A wildfire that gutted a home, destroyed abandoned sheds and blackened about 45 acres of brushy terrain in the far northern reaches of San Diego County was 75 percent contained Thursday.
The blaze began early Tuesday afternoon as a house fire in the 38800 block of Pala Temecula Road, according to Cal Fire. The flames spread into adjacent vegetation and toward hills east of Interstate 15 and about a mile south of the Riverside County line before its forward progress was stopped.
The fire initially prompted authorities to evacuate about 100 people from residences in the area of Temepa Road and advised them to take shelter at Vallecitos Elementary School in Fallbrook and Great Oak High School in Temecula. The order was lifted late Tuesday evening, according to Cal Fire.
But by then, the blaze had gutted seven outbuildings along with the home where it originated, Cal Fire Capt. Issac Sanchez said. The small auxiliary structures, which stood on remote county-owned land, apparently had been unused for years or decades.
Three firefighters suffered minor burns while working to extinguish the blaze, according to Cal Fire officials.
About 250 personnel from San Diego and Riverside counties have been fighting the fire, with help from a team with the Orange County Fire Authority. The fire's cause remains under investigation.
