Witch Creek fire

Looks like sunset at my house, at 3 pm. Big wildfire up the road from here.




Witch Creek Fire burns 3,000 acres near Ramona


UNION-TRIBUNE
3:17 p.m. October 21, 2007
RAMONA – The 78 Fire has burned 3,000 acres between Ramona and Santa Ysabel. Many homes near Witch Creek and San Diego Country Estates have been evacuated to Poway High School on Espola Road at Titan Way, county emergency said.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Kelly Zombro said he's notified the cities of Ramona, Escondido, Poway and San Diego that the fire is headed their way.

“It's just like the Cedar fire. It was just like the Cedar fire right off the bat,” he said.

Zombro said the fire is burning in a swathe of land untouched by the Cedar and Paradise fires of 2003. It is north of where the Cedar burned and south of where Paradise burned and headed toward Ramona.

“We're right in-between the two,” he said.

Zombro also said attacking the fire by air is on hold because the wind is gusting up to 60 miles per hour.

It was not clear at 3 p.m. whether any homes had been damaged by the 78 fire, which started near Witch Creek at about 12:40 p.m., a sheriff's spokesman said.

A brush fire broke out today in Witch Creek, a rural community several miles west of Santa Ysabel on state Route 78, Cal Fire officials said.

The blaze was reported about 12:30 p.m. and had spread to more than 100 acres on both sides of Route 78 by 1:40 p.m.

Residents of homes near Witch Creek were being ordered to evacuate and the cause of the fire was being investigated.

Residents as far away as Rancho Penasquitos and Carmel Valley reported the air was thick with smoke and ash was raining from the sky.

County officials have begun posting fire updates for the public at www.sdcountyemergency.com.

Residents were being asked to call 211 for all non-emergency calls related to this fire. If the call is initiated from a cell phone, 211 can be reached at 858-300-1211.