Smoke In Southwest RivCo As Another Fire Burns At Camp Pendleton

SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Another brush fire was burning Tuesday at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, and Southwest Riverside County can expect to see and/or smell afternoon smoke.

The blaze was reported by base officials on social media shortly before 1 p.m. The fire was burning within the base's X-Ray Impact Area, in the center of the installation's boundaries (see map below).

At approximately 2 p.m., the base announced Basilone Road from Range 116 to Las Pulgas Road was closed due to poor visibility from smoke and firing operations. Updates on base road closures can be found here.

"Smoke may be visible, but there is currently no threat to personnel or structures," the base reported when the fire was announced. "The Camp Pendleton Fire Department is on scene."

As the crow flies, the base is only a few air miles away from the Southwest Riverside County cities of Temecula, Murrieta, Wildomar and Lake Elsinore.

Tuesday's fire was one of several blazes aboard Camp Pendleton in recent days.

On Sunday, Camp Pendleton Fire Department conducted a prescribed burn inside its Hotel Area near the Fallbrook boundary.

On June 22, two vegetation fires were reported — one in the base's Whiskey Impact Area and the other in the Quebec Impact Area. The day prior, a brush fire was reported inside the Whiskey Impact Area in Range 211A.

A June 8 vegetation fire was also reported inside the Zulu Impact Area on Range 408A.

No injuries were reported in any of the blazes. While Sunday's prescribed burn was planned, there is no word on what caused the recent fires.

Camp Pendleton troops regularly perform training exercises at the base using mortar and live fire. Depending on atmospheric conditions, the sound of the explosions can be amplified and heard up to 50 miles away.

Live fire training was planned Tuesday in the Whiskey/Zula Impact Area.