San Marcos Brush Fire Caused By Downed Power Line

SAN MARCOS, CA — A roughly three-acre brush fire sparked by a downed power line prompted the evacuation of about 100 residents Friday morning in San Marcos and left nearly 3,000 residents without power, authorities said.

The non-injury blaze was reported shortly before 3:30 a.m. in an area near Plateau Avenue and South Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos Fire Marshal Jason Nailon said.

Deputies responded and evacuated between 85 and 100 residents from homes near the intersection of Village Drive and Fortune Road as firefighters battled the blaze, San Diego County Sheriff's Sgt. Pamela Murphy said.

Cal Fire and San Marcos Fire Department crews knocked down the flames within 30 minutes and reported that the blaze scorched roughly three acres of vegetation.

Investigators determined the fire was caused by a downed power line in the area, Nailon said.

A power outage was reported at 3:26 a.m. affecting around 2,979 customers in the San Marcos area, according to a San Diego Gas & Electric online outage map.

The estimated restoration time was 6 p.m., the utility reported.

Around 6:15 a.m., Cal State San Marcos announced that it was cancelling all classes and closing all offices Friday because of the outage.

– City News Service