This article is no longer being updated. See the status of the Monte Fire as of Wednesday, here.
What to know: Monte Fire
- Acres: 400
- Containment: 20%
- Evacuation order: North of El Monte Road; south of Roosevelt Lane, Wildcat Canyon Road and El Cajon Mountain Summit Trail; east of San Vincente Oaks Road, El Cajon Mountain Summit Trail, Mountain Valley Place, El Monte Road and Hazy Meadow Lane; and west of El Cajon Mountain Truck Trail and El Capitan Road
- Evacuation point: Walmart Supercenter located at 13487 Camino Canada in El Cajon; small pets can be taken to the South Shelter at 5821 Sweetwater Road in Bonita; large animals can be taken to the Dianne Jacob Lakeside Equestrian Park at 11055 Moreno Avenue in Lakeside
- Road closures: Hard closure at El Monte Road at Yucca Drive; El Monte Road at Oma's Road is only open to residents.
- Smoke advisory for the eastern portion of Lakeside, the northwest portion of El Cajon and Alpine
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WATCH HERECrews were battling a brush fire that threatened structures and prompted evacuations in Lakeside on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
The Monte Fire sparked around 3 p.m. near the 15000 block of El Monte Road, east of Yucca Drive. By 6:30 p.m., the blaze had grown to 340 acres and was 10% contained, according to Cal Fire San Diego. While the fire initially had a moderate rate of spread, Cal Fire later reported that fire activity had been reduced and that the fire was moving at a slow rate.
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SIGN UP By Wednesday morning, the fire had scorched 400 acres and was 20% surrounded.
"The main focus for crews [Wednesday] will be on hot spots near residential areas and the northeast side of the fire. Firefighters took advantage of the favorable weather that helped to decrease the spread," Cal Fire Capt. Robert Johnson told City News Service. "Some crews will have to be flown in by helicopter due to the remoteness of the area."
Local
An evacuation order was in effect for areas north of El Monte Road, south of Roosevelt Lane, Wildcat Canyon Road and El Cajon Mountain Summit Trail, east of San Vincente Oaks Road, El Cajon Mountain Summit Trail, Mountain Valley Place, El Monte Road and Hazy Meadow Lane, and west of El Cajon Mountain Truck Trail and El Capitan Road.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department then issued evacuation warnings for areas north and east of the order. The latest evacuation information can be found on Genasys Protect's website or app.
The Walmart Supercenter — located at 13487 Camino Canada in El Cajon — was being used as a temporary evacuation point.
Affected residents could take small pets to the South Shelter, located at 5821 Sweetwater Road in Bonita, and large animals could be evacuated to the Dianne Jacob Equestrian Park, located at 11055 Moreno Avenue in Lakeside. The San Diego Humane Society said in an X post that its emergency response team was deployed to help with livestock evacuations. San Diego County Animal Services was also assisting.
"There's only one way in and out back there, so we were kind of just like, 'Well, we don't have a lot of time,' so grabbed our dogs, grabbed our neighbors' dogs and grabbed a few things and took off," Jolene Corella, who has lived in the area for four years and evacuated on Tuesday, told NBC 7. "This isn't anything new to us, but this is really close."
El Monte Road at Yucca Drive was under a hard closure, while El Monte Road at Oma's Road was only open to residents.
Around 4:30 p.m., the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District issued a smoke advisory for the eastern portion of Lakeside, the northwest portion of El Cajon and Alpine due to the Monte Fire.
Video from SkyRanger 7 shows smoke billowing into the sky as Cal Fire crews attack the flames from the air and the ground. The blaze appears to be in a hilly area with heavy brush and trees.
A Cal Fire spokesperson said fire engines, bulldozers, water tenders and firefighter hand crews were also working to attack the fire.
"The location where the fire is at is going to be in steep terrain," Johnson said. "Any time you have steep terrain, the fire is going to travel upslope a lot faster than it will on level ground, so this does bring challenges to the firefighters because we are seeing the increased rates of spread, predominantly influenced by the steep slopes."
No deaths were reported, and no property was damaged, according to Cal Fire. The agency said that two firefighters were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
City News Service contributed to this report.
