Updated 9 p.m.
A new fire scorched more than 600 acres of brush in the Las Pulgas area of Camp Pendleton, base officials said Thursday.
As firefighters continued to battle both fronts on Camp Pendleton, but Fallbrook evacuation orders were lifted by 7 p.m.
Earlier, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said 500 reverse 911 calls were made to Fallbrook residents to leave the area on Olive Hill Road between South Mission Road and Burma Road. The calls were advisory only, not mandatory, but residents were sent to Escondido High School.
Those two roads remain closed though, at Sleeping Indian. Residents must have ID to return to the area.
The blaze broke out about 3 p.m. near a sewage plant and prompted the evacuation of personnel to the School of Infantry Parade deck behind the mess hall, the officials said. Units with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing were part of the firefighting efforts.
The Camp Pendleton Scout reported that facilities in what the Marines call the “43 Area” were evacuated, including a store, gas station, restaurant, recreating center, barber shop and laundromat.
The most recent blaze prompted the evacuation of 309 personnel to the School of Infantry Parade deck behind the mess hall, the officials said. Another 62
Marines from Camp Margarita were evacuated to Camp Del Mar. Those evacuations were expected to remain in place until Friday.
Base officials said most of the facilities that were evacuated Wednesday because of other fires at the base have reopened.
The largest blaze burned around 6,000 acres at Naval Weapons Station Fallbrook and on the eastern side of Camp Pendleton amid dry, blisteringly hot conditions and was not contained as of mid-day today, Cal Fire Division Chief Dave Allen said.
The so-called Tomahawk Fire erupted for unknown reasons around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday at the Fallbrook facility on the outskirts of Camp Pendleton, then spread onto the North County Marine Corps installation. Naval Weapons Station Fallbrook lost power and will be closed today.
Another fire charred more than two dozen acres along Interstate 5 Wednesday and forced a full closure of the freeway for several hours.
The second blaze broke out on the eastern side of Interstate 5, near Las Pulgas Road, about 15 minutes after the first, according to the California Highway Patrol. The blaze, which was possibly caused by a fire that engulfed and gutted a box truck, blackened 30 acres and prompted a temporary closure of both sides of the freeway in the area.
Military and civilian crews from several area agencies battled the flames on the ground and from firefighting aircraft.
–City News Service
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