Not again

A brush fire broke out yesterday on the US-Mexico border, near the town of Dulzura. One of my friends who narrowly dodged the Cedar fires of 2003 when located near Julian, now lives near Dulzura and the projected path of the fire.

There is a voluntary evacuation order in effect, and most residents there have been there long enough to see how unpredictable these fires can be, so they are getting out of there quickly.

At least 30 engines are protecting homes south of Community Building Road and state Route 94 that are within a half mile of the fire, said San Diego Rural Fire Department Chief Dave Nissen.

"The biggest areas of concern are on Bee Canyon and Marron Valley Roads," he said. "It's on the Otays (the foothills east of Otay Mountain) right now and it's slowly creeping up Bee Canyon."

The winds coming out of the east were calm but were expected to change directions and blow southwest at 8 to 10 mph later this afternoon, according to Nissen.

"That's enough. Even a light breeze is going to push this thing hard," he said, emphasizing that that meant toward homes.

Lets hope we can dodge another bullet this year, as we did in '03 and back in the 2000 Julian fires.