SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A vegetation fire ignited in the area of Friars Road in Mission Valley Tuesday afternoon, prompting evacuations nearby.
According to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department's website, the fire was first reported at 12:09 p.m.
As of 3:45 p.m., all evacuation orders connected to the fire were lifted. The San Diego Police Department told an ABC 10News producer on the scene around 1:30 p.m. that crews stopped the fire's forward progress at three acres.
SDFD says Friars Road was closed west of State Route 163 for an "extended time" as crews work to mop up the remaining hot spots. SDPD said on X that Linda Vista Road to Genesee Avenue was closed as well.
The Office of Emergency Services has a map showing the area that was evacuated.
OES' website said some road closures were still active, including for the areas of Camino Degrazia and Friars Road.
SnapDragon Stadium's west parking lot acted as a temporary evacuation point, per OES. The address is 2101 Stadium Way, San Diego, CA 92108.
10News spoke to several people outside Fashion Valley Mall who were forced out of their apartments. As of 4 p.m., firefighters were still putting water on hot spots. Two witnesses to the fire told our reporter after they heard the fire alarm in their building, they looked outside and saw flames, followed by an explosion.
They believe a power line ended up exploding. They ran to get their cat, then raced outside to the mall parking lots. 10News witnessed San Diego Gas & Electric crews checking a power box at the scene.
"We heard the fire alarm and didn't think much of it and then I looked at my window. I saw smoke. So, like, 'Oh, this doesn't look like a drill.' We went out. We saw the fire. And then that's when the power line exploded," witness Halim Hamed said. "I took a video right after the power line exploded. And then my first instinct was, 'let's just get what we can out and leave and see what happens.'”
SDGE communications manager Anthony Wagner sent the following statement in response to the witness' claims:
“SDG&E had no reports of outages or system issues in the area prior to fire officials being initially dispatched to the scene. Approximately five minutes later, transmission lines at the top of the hill tripped offline as heavy smoke from the fire came in contact with the lines. At the request of the fire department, SDG&E deenergized a small segment of our distribution system serving customers in the area for safety.
Our crews are focused on safely restoring power to affected customers as soon as possible.”
Per SDFD, the following resources were sent to battle the fire: 20 engines, three brush rigs, three helicopters and 133 personnel.
ABC 10News brought you live coverage over the air shortly after the fire broke out:
This is a developing story. ABC 10News has sent a crew to the area to gather the latest information.
