East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts

Last updated June 4, 2018 at 9 a.m.

June 3, 2018 (Del Cerro) – San Diego Fire investigators have concluded that a fire that scorched 38 acres in Del Cerro yesterday was started by 12-year-old children playing with a lighter. It has not yet been announced whther the juveniles will face charges, ECM news partner 10 News reports.

The fire reported at 4:09 p.m. in the Adobe Falls area of Del Cerro on Del Cerro Blvd. near Waring Road forced evacuation of 60 to 80 homes on Adobe Falls Road this afternoon and evening.

The fire started in a brushy canyon and swiftly threatened homes, burning east and to within several feet of Interstate 8, forcing closure of the freeway and harrowing moments for motorists.

ECM reporter Rebecca Jefferis-Williamson was driving toward the fire on I-8 and got cell phone photos (top left and lower left) of flames beside the freeway and a wall of smoke confronting motorists.  "The other driver and I didn't know what we were driving into, but we were not stopped from advancing," she reports, adding that orange and black embers and ashes were hitting her car. One ember came through her open window and burned her finger, she added.