Fires burn more than 8,500 acres at California Marine base

Firefighters on Wednesday were battling three brush fires on Camp Pendleton, including one that had burned about 7,000 acres of land in remote training areas, Marine Corps officials said.

A second fire had burned another 1,100 acres, while a third had charred 500 acres, according to information provided by Camp Pendleton firefighters on Twitter. The two larger fires were both 20 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon.

Base officials said all three fires remained in training areas and posed no threat to people or structures on base or in surrounding communities, but would continue to produce smoke throughout the day Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Cal Fire San Diego and the Orange County Fire Authority were helping to battle the blazes. Camp Pendleton officials said “partner agencies” were continuing to help Wednesday.

Camp Pendleton officials first reported the largest fire just before 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, tweeting that firefighters were monitoring a fire in the Zulu area, but that the fire did not pose danger on base or off.

In a video posted on Twitter, Camp Pendleton Fire Department Deputy Chief John Crook said the blaze that charred about 1,100 acres began around 1 p.m. Tuesday.

“The cause of the fire was due to active Marine training over the weekend,” Crook said. “At this time there are no structures threatened.”

———

©2020 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Visit The San Diego Union-Tribune at www.sandiegouniontribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.