This week's second wildfire that spread over hundreds of hilly open acres was 15% contained with over 80 firefighters on scene Tuesday in San Diego County.
The blaze broke out for unknown reasons shortly before 1 p.m. on Monday, east of Marron Valley and just north of the U.S.-Mexico border in the Dulzura area, according to Cal Fire.
In less than four hours, it grew to more than 500 acres in size as ground crews and personnel aboard air tankers and water-dropping helicopters fought the flames, said Cal Fire Capt. Thomas Shoots.
There were no immediate structural threats, though radio-transmission equipment on Tecate Peak was potentially in the path of the fire as it moved to the northeast, Shoots said.
Shortly after the blaze began spreading, firefighters and sheriff's deputies rescued five people near the burn zone, and paramedics took two of them to a hospital. It was not immediately clear what type or severity of trauma the patients had suffered, Shoots said.
As of 6:45 a.m., firefighters had halted the spread of the blaze at an estimated 577 acres, Cal Fire reported.
The fire was burning about a quarter-mile southeast of the site of a wildland blaze that blackened roughly 65 acres after erupting near Cottonwood Creek early Sunday evening, Shoots said.
