Last Tuesday, the Lilac Fire erupted in Bonsall, driven by intense Santa Ana winds and dry fuels. The fire spread rapidly from Old Highway 395 and Lilac Road.
Cal Fire took preemptive measures to place firefighters across California and Oregon in Riverside County. These firefighters, alongside other agencies, responded quickly to tame the fire.
In Rancho Bernardo, fires also broke out.
Kelly Solano, CSUSM student and resident of Rancho Bernardo, mentioned coming home to see smoke in the sky, and flames visible from her street. She then called her parents, and they evacuated around 10 in the morning:
“[My family] decided to evacuate to my grandmother’s home a couple of miles away.” she said, “Since we have so many pets, we had to figure out how to evacuate them too but ended up having to leave the chameleon since we had no way to transport him safely.”
The fire ended up scorching over 7 acres, but firefighters warned it could have spread to 100. San Diego Police shut down the I-15 in the surrounding affected area.
“Around 1:30pm is when the evacuation orders were lifted but roads remained closed till the late evening,” Solano said, “We were able to return home at around 2:00 in the afternoon and I believe there was no damage to any structures.”
Solano also mentioned the fires were very close to a daycare. Thankfully, they were able to evacuate safely.
Another CSUSM student living further north was impacted by extreme weather.
Elden Cadena, resident of Temecula, mentioned using a generator due to strong winds and power outages:
“Unfortunately, we’re still without power at home which has been really challenging,” he said, “I hope to get power back soon as I have homework that I need to do. I’m also worried about our food going bad since our fridge doesn’t have power.”
According to the national weather service, rain and 20-30 mph winds found the city last weekend.
“The winds here were incredibly extreme earlier, but they’ve just started to calm down,” Cadena continued, “A lot of our outdoor things have been thrown around, even something as heavy as our grill has been pushed about 14 feet away and knocked on its side.”
The Cougar Care Network is an available resource for those affected by the fires and the Employee Assistance Program is available for student workers. Faculty are encouraged to reach out to their departments for assistance.