Brush Fire Forces Evacuations, Destroys Homes In Lakeside

LAKESIDE, CA — A brush fire forced evacuations and destroyed homes Monday afternoon in San Diego's East County.

The blaze, called the Coches Fire, sparked shortly before 3 p.m. north of Interstate 8 at Los Coches Road in Lakeside, according to Cal Fire. The blaze spread into a nearby mobile home park, destroyed several homes and injured at least two people.

As of 4:30 p.m., crews stopped the spread of the blaze at 5.3 acres, according to Cal Fire. The fire was 5% contained.

It was not immediately clear how many people were injured by the fire, though none were firefighters, according to Mike Cornette, a fire captain with the state agency. The number of structures damaged or destroyed by the flames also was not certain in the late afternoon, he said.

As ground crews and firefighters aboard air tankers and water-dropping helicopters worked to extinguish the fire, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office issued an evacuation order and warnings for nearby residents.

Officials cleared people out of an area bounded by the freeway to the south and west, Los Coches Road to the east and Business Route 8 to the north.

• Also see: Lakeside Fire Map: See Coches Fire Perimeter, Evacuation Areas

As of 6 p.m., the evacuation order was still in effect. Evacuation warnings for the area were lifted. View an interactive map here.

A temporary evacuation point was established at Viejas Casino at 5000 Willows Road in Alpine.

The San Diego County Department of Animal Services was helping evacuees with pets at Viejas Casino. Evacuees with large animals could go to Dianne Jacob Lakeside Equestrian Park at 11055 Moreno Ave. in Lakeside.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

City News Service contributed to this report.