SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Firefighters in yellow hard hats, fire gear, and hoses spray down a hillside burnt to a crisp.
They’re clearing out what’s left of the fire that tore through here near Fairmount Avenue and Montezuma Road Thursday afternoon . As of Friday afternoon, it was 80% contained.
“We were actually here when they were firebombing right in the canyon; got caught right in the spray and determined that the house was still here which was reassuring,” Charlie Ertl said.
Charlie and Jeannie Ertl live on Lila Drive where the crew raced to protect the homes butting up to the canyon.
“They got here and there were flames up here. And that they were able to fight them back because they said within a matter of short time our house would’ve been gone,” Jeannie Ertl said.
San Diego Fire-Rescue says crews on the ground and in the air were able to put out the fire, which burned dozens of acres and damaged several homes. No one was hurt.
While the cause is still being looked into, officials with the department told ABC 10News the fire started in or very close to a homeless encampment.