Camp Pendleton Fire Burns 7,000 Acres, Sends Smoke Across SoCal

CAMP PENDLETON, CA — A vegetation fire burning on Camp Pendleton has scorched thousands of acres and sent smoke across northern San Diego, southern Orange and southwest Riverside counties.

The blaze, called the Canyon Fire, sparked due to live fire training around 1:30 p.m. Monday in the Whiskey Impact Area of Camp Pendleton, which is toward the northern end of the military base, according to base officials.

As of Thursday afternoon, the fire had burned 4,000 acres in the Whiskey Impact Area and the southeast portion of the Quebec Impact Area of the base, Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Jorin Hollenbeak told Patch. By 5 p.m. Thursday, the fire had blackened 7,000 acres and was 50 percent contained.

"The fire is still confined within those Impact Areas," Hollenbeak said. "There's nothing there. There's no structures, and the fire is pretty well-confined within those Impact Areas."

There were 100 personnel from Camp Pendleton Fire Department battling the blaze Thursday afternoon, Hollenbeak said.

"There is no threat to personnel or structures," he said. "Camp Pendleton Fire Department continues containment and control efforts."

Smoke from the fire prompted a smoke advisory Thursday afternoon and night for portions of San Diego's North County.

"This may include Fallbrook, Rainbow, Vista, San Marcos, Oceanside, Carlsbad, San Marcos and Escondido as the wind shifts and blows smoke toward the south," the advisory from the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District said.

"In areas where you smell smoke it is advised that you limit physical/outdoor activity," the district said. "If possible, stay indoors to limit your exposure to fine particulate matter and ozone, especially those residents with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children."

Smoke from the Highland Fire in Aguanga, just east of Temecula, also impacted residents in Riverside County. Smokey air prompted an air quality alert and smoke advisory until 5 p.m. Friday for residents in north and central coastal Orange County, Capistrano Valley, Lake Elsinore area and Temecula Valley, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

"Weak winds are expected to alternate between onshore and offshore allowing smoke to accumulate in impacted areas in southern Orange County," the district said. "Smoke is expected to gradually spread along the coast of Orange County and into far southwestern Riverside County."