Photos by Chris Stone
Updated at 6:55 p.m. July 13, 2014
One firefighter suffered heat-related injuries Sunday while fighting a brush fire in Mission Trails Regional Park that consumed nearly 100 acres before being largely contained, a fire official said.
Fire investigators from San Diego and the federal ATF agency examined brush near the north trailhead of Oak Grove Loop. The fire scorched up the west face of 1,194-foot Kwaay Paay peak, the fourth-highest in the park.
A total of 18 firefighting ground crews, four helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft were battling the blaze that was reported about 2:15 p.m. near the park’s visitor center along Father Junipero Serra Trail. Units came from nearby Santee and as far away as Chula Vista.
“Ground crews worked on the fire — which was on the side of Kwaay Paay peak — in very difficult terrain that was hard to reach,” San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Lee Swanson said.
The fast-moving blaze was about 70 percent contained at 5:15 p.m., he said.
Because of high temperatures, fewer hikers were in the park than on a normal Sunday. All of them were successfully alerted and evacuated after the fire began, Swanson said.
The extent of the injuries to the firefighter was not known.
Authorities said fire crews will remain overnight performing mop-up operations on the remnants of the blaze, which was watched warily by residents of neighboring San Carlos, some of whom stopped cars on Jackson Drive east of the park.
Mission Trails Regional Park will be closed to visitors Monday and will reopen on Tuesday, Swanson said.
— City News Service contributed to this report.
