Smoke from one of the two fires at the border. Courtesy Cal Fire
A wildfire — the second to erupt in the same general area in as many days — spread over hundreds of hilly open acres Monday in the far southern reaches of San Diego County, authorities reported.
The blaze broke out for unknown reasons shortly before 1 p.m. east of Marron Valley and just north of the U.S.-Mexico border in the Barrett Junction area, according to Cal Fire.
#Border13Fire near Dulzura [update] Fire spread has been stopped at 577 acres and is now 10% contained. Air and ground resources continue working to cool hot spots and build containment line around the fire.
— CAL FIRE/SAN DIEGO COUNTY FIRE (@CALFIRESANDIEGO) June 14, 2022
In less than four hours, it grew to an estimated 577 acres in size as ground crews and personnel aboard air tankers and water-dropping helicopters fought the flames, said Thomas Shoots, a fire captain with the state agency.
There were no immediate structural threats, though radio-transmission equipment on Tecate Peak was potentially in the path of the fire, Shoots said.
Shortly after the blaze began spreading, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies rescued five people near the burn zone, and paramedics took two of them to a hospital. It was not immediately clear what type or severity of trauma they had suffered, Shoots said.
As of 6 p.m., firefighters had halted the spread of the blaze at an estimated 577 acres, Cal Fire reported.
The fire was burning in a northeasterly direction about a quarter-mile southeast of the site of a wildland blaze that blackened roughly 65 acres after erupting near Cottonwood Creek early Sunday evening.
Updated at 6:55 p.m. June 13, 2022
City News Service contributed to this article.