Firefighters have managed to stop the spread of a fire near the 6000 block of Avenida Cuatro Vientos in Rancho Santa Fe, according to Cal Fire.
The fire had grown to 2 1/2 acres in an open area with little vegetation. It has not caused any structural damages or injuries.
Flames started in the backyard of homeowner Pouya Afshar, who left work early after his wife called to alert him to it.
“My wife was crying saying there were a bunch of flames in the back yard and the house was going to be burned down,” Afshar said. “By the time I arrived, I saw several airplanes flying over head, about seven or eight fire department cars outside.”
An official cause of the fire has not yet been determined, according to Julie Taber, a spokeswoman for the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District.
Afshar said the fire may have been accidentally caused workers hired to cut down brush.
“We hired a crew to clean up the brush after the rains hit us — the brush was waist-high,” Afshar said. “I think in the process they must have hit a rock while the blades were spinning and we think that’s what started the fire.”
A neighbor was the first responder on the scene, Afshar said. He used a pump to start taming the fire with water from Afshar’s pool.
The incident is one of several brush fires to take place this week amid a heat wave in Southern California.
—From Staff and Wire Reports