A new wildfire in San Diego County forced the evacuation of California State San Marcos Wednesday as crews battled a series of other blazes that had taxed firefighting resources to the point where officials declared a local emergency. Dubbed the Twin Oaks fire, the blaze quickly spread to 20 acres near Lake Hodges, prompting evacuation orders for North San Elijo, Discovery and Coronado Hills.
In Carlsbad, where 30 homes were burned by the wind-driven Poinsettia fire, the number of evacuation orders had increased to 15,000. Several other fires, including in Fallbrook, Camp Pendleton and Rancho Bernardino, prompted their own evacuations as agencies from other jurisdictions sent resources to aid in the fight. The burden on local firefighting resources prompted San Diego County to declare an emergency, and called on Gov. Jerry Brown to free up greater access to assistance.
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said his agency was coordinating with the military to help battle fires in Carlsbad and Fallbrook, adding that about 120 deputies were helping fight fires. Elsewhere, crews were also fighting fires in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
More than 100 firefighters responded to a brush fire that broke out at 1:13 p.m. in an agricultural area west of Santa Paula, forcing the temporary closure of California 126 between Peck and Wells roads. – ROES and a great video here at KTLA.
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