UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM
9:21 p.m. October 8, 2008
Courtesy of Woody Morrison
The Pendleton fire at night, seen from the top of Mission Gate Drive in Oceanside south of state Route 76.
CAMP PENDLETON – A brush fire that began Wednesday afternoon on a base range used to train Marines in explosives disposal spread to more than 1,000 acres by nightfall, and smoke from the blaze could be seen earlier from throughout North County.
By sunset, the fire, which began about 3:35 p.m., was burning in a northeasterly direction, said Capt. Nick Schuler of Cal Fire.
On the base Web site, Marine officials said that as of 8:20 p.m., ground crews continued to fight the fire, but aircraft had been grounded for the evening. They said the fire was burning in an area southwest of the air station, and was not currently threatening buildings or personnel.
As a precautionary measure, power has been shut off in certain areas of the base to allow for back-burning operations.
Only two lanes of Vandergrift Boulevard on the base were opened, with the outer lanes reserved for emergency vehicles.
AdvertisementResidents of Fallbrook and Temecula said they were getting smoke and ash from the blaze Wednesday night.
Marine Staff Sgt. Jesse Lora, a base spokesman, said the fire was burning in rugged, hilly terrain between one of the base's airfields and its golf course. He said the golf course was evacuated shortly after the fire began.
Cal Fire, the U.S. Forest Service and the Sheriff's Department had a total of 10 aircraft fighting the fire earlier Wednesday, both helicopters and fixed-wing tankers – including two Superscooper water bombers recently arrived from Canada, Schuler said.
On the ground, firefighters from the base, fire departments around the county and Cal Fire had crews and trucks fighting the blaze, said another base spokeswoman, Marine Cpl. Priscilla Vitale.
Vitale said it was not immediately known how the fire started or whether training was going on at the range at the time the fire started.
It also was not known if unexploded ordnance remained on the range.
In the late afternoon, a trail of smoke several miles long could be seen from Oceanside and as far south as Solana Beach.
Several North County residents posted comments about the fire on a uniontrib.com newsblog Wednesday night.
In a post at 6:54 p.m., a woman named Elizabeth said she could hear helicopters nearby.
“I am in the De Luz area of Temecula, and it looks very bad up here,†she wrote. “Smoke is very thick. My daughter got scared because she thought it was another fire up here ... that's how bad the smell is and how thick the smoke is!â€
Another woman, Melissa, posted this at 6:46 p.m.: “I am in Temecula, and we can smell it. It is creeping in heavily,†she wrote.
At 8:57 p.m., Scott posted this blog: “I live in Fallbrook near the high school and I can see a pretty big amount of orange glow at the Pendleton fire! The ash i can feel all over my body it feels bad !â€
Another poster said they could see the glow of flames about 9 p.m. from where they live near Interstate 5 and state Route 78 in Oceanside.
