San Diego County Fires Prompt Evacuation Notices for 15,000

Update, 5:15 p.m.: AP is reporting the campus of California State University, San Marcos is being evacuated. A full evacuation was ordered for "the school of nearly 10,000 students about 30 miles north of downtown San Diego is having final exams this week with graduation ceremonies this weekend."

In addition, another fire has broken out approximately "20 miles to the north of the university near Fallbrook, forcing the shutdown of a stretch of Interstate 15."

Update, 3:15 p.m.: A fire burning in the San Diego County town of Carlsbad has burned about 30 homes and prompted officials to issue 15,000 evacuation notices.

According to the Los Angeles Times account of the blaze, dubbed the Poinsettia Fire:

A fast-moving wildfire has burned 30 homes in Carlsbad, prompting San Diego County authorities to declare a local emergency as at least four other brush fires raged in nearby communities.

Fueled by high temperatures, winds and dry conditions, the Poinsettia fire in Carlsbad alone had ... burned through at least 150 acres by midday Wednesday. Hundreds of homes and businesses, as well as several elementary schools and libraries were evacuated as the blaze raged out of control.

“It's just, unfortunately, a recipe for a large fire and that’s what we’re seeing right now,” Cal Fire Capt. Mike Mohler said.

Firefighters across the region were hampered by record-breaking temperatures, sustained winds and tinder-dry vegetation.

At Camp Pendleton, the Tomahawk fire had burned more than 150 acres as of midday, had also forced widespread evacuations, including at the San Onofre nuclear power plant.

Southern California Edison said in a tweet that "about a dozen non-essential employees evacuated" from the plant because of the fire.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Carlsbad has suffered the worst damage so far, with flames reported to be burning homes in the areas of Poinsettia Lane and Alicante Road, including on Cinnabar Way, Skimmer Court, Black Rail Road and Bluegrass Drive. Firefighters were making stands at many houses, trying to save them.

Mahnoosh Arsanjani watched from the corner of Skimmer off Poinsettia with tears in her eyes as smoke billowed near her own house.

"It's like a scene from Armageddon," Arsanjani said. She said she got an evacuation notice by text and hurried home to help her husband grab their wedding photos and dog.

Public media outlet KPBS says that firefighters on the scene of the Poinsettia fire say they're making progress against the blaze:

Firefighters say they are "getting the upper hand but still have days more of work" to put out an aggressive fire that has destroyed at least three homes in Carlsbad, damaged at least 10 more and scorched more than 150 acres. No injuries were reported.

Cal Fire Batallion Chief Nick Schuler said at a press conference that while the Poinsettia fire did destroy at least three homes, the "amount of homes saved is phenomenal."

As of 1:30 p.m., approximately 15,000 evacuations notifications have been sent. More than 11,000 homes were evacuated.

From previous post: The most dangerous fire Wednesday afternoon appeared to be in Carlsbad, a coast town about 30 miles up Interstate 5 from downtown San Diego. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that emergency officials sent out automated evacuation notices to 11,627 homes, businesses and cellphones. The U-T says hundreds of Carlsbad residents have fled rapidly advancing flames.

Firefighters were contending with temperatures in the mid-90s and higher. A heat advisory is in place for the entire San Diego County coast. With gusty, hot winds expected across the region, the National Weather Service has issued red-flag warnings for much of Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Homes in a Carlsbad neighborhood have caught fire as hundreds of people flee a fast-moving blaze dubbed the Poinsettia fire Wednesday.

In Anaheim, the 91 Freeway has been closed in Anaheim due to a small brush fire.

More than 11,500 evacuation notices have been issued for the fire as it moves through neighborhoods amid steep brushy canyons.

Television news footage showed two homes engulfed in flames as the fire whipped through the canyons, fueled in part by gusty winds. In addition to hundreds of homes and businesses, the fire had forced the evacuation of elementary schools and libraries.

Power outages as a result of the fire also prompted the Legoland theme to evacuate all of its rides, according to the park's Facebook page.

Roughly 2,800 utility customers were reportedly without power as a result of the fire.

Meantime, NPR's The Two-Way blog reports that San Diego County officials are trying to get to the bottom of an emergency-response app:

Officials were embarrassed by an inappropriate message that popped up in a San Diego County app that was meant to inform residents of the emergency area. "Fire in your pants," the "notes" section of the message read; officials say it should have read "Bernardo Fire."

The agency fixed the problem by republishing with the correct data, according to NBC News 7 in San Diego, which says they also "closed a 'portal' into the system that the culprit used to gain entry."

Local ABC 10 News says it was told that "the county worked on it on the cloud 'but someone left the door open.' "

News 7 reports that county spokesman Mike Workman says the source of the "offending words" will be found, and that he "thinks steps will soon be taken to prevent something like this from happening again."