Fire Guts Fallbrook Home, Sparks Small Brush Fire

FALLBROOK, CA — A predawn blaze leveled a home and sparked a small brush fire Friday in a rural neighborhood in the far northern reaches of San Diego County.

The residents of the house in the 40300 block of Sandia Creek Drive in the De Luz area of Fallbrook were able to safely escape when the blaze erupted shortly after 4:30 a.m., according to the North County Fire Protection District.

Firefighters arrived to find the residence fully engulfed in flames and nearby brush and trees ablaze, NCFPD PIO Capt. John Choi said.

It took about 90 minutes to subdue the structure fire, and the crews — including personnel from Cal Fire and nearby Camp Pendleton — had the roughly quarter-acre vegetation blaze extinguished about 20 minutes later, Choi said.

No firefighters or residents suffered any injuries, but a dog and cat owned by the displaced family remained unaccounted for and feared dead at mid-afternoon.

The home was a complete loss, Choi said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

— City News Service