Investigators sought Tuesday to determine what sparked a brush fire that blackened 4 1/2 open acres overnight in the East County highlands amid gusty and dry Santa Ana conditions.
The non-injury blaze erupted about 11 p.m. Monday on a hillside off Wynola Road, near Julian, according to Cal Fire.
It took ground crews roughly three hours to contained the flames, which posed no imminent structural threats, said Kendal Bortisser, a fire captain with the state agency.
The onset of the arid and windy spell over the weekend prompted the National Weather Service to issue a "red flag" wildfire warning for local inland-valley and mountains locales, effective until 6 p.m. Wednesday.
