Wildfire — San Diego County Valleys, California

2014-05-14 to 2014-05-22 · San Diego County Valleys, California

Event narrative

The Cocos Fire, previously known as the Twin Oaks Fire and later the Washingtonia Fire, was a wildfire that ignited around 1730 PST on the 14th in the hills south of California State University, San Marcos and burned 400 acres by later in the evening. Flames were reported near homes, and the southeastern part of the city was ordered evacuated. By the morning of the 15th, the Cocos Fire was the top priority for county firefighters. The Cocos Fire quickly spread into western Escondido with a big flare up near noon that day; then the sea breeze took replaced the Santa Ana, pushing the fire back toward the east with thick smoke on I-15 and additional evacuations in Escondido. It grew overnight to 800 acres and was only 5% contained.

Road closures/evacuations included: Del Dios highway from Via Rancho Parkway to Rancho Drive, evacuating the Del Dios community; Mt. Israel Road, Harmony Grove Road from Elfin Forest to Kauana Loa Drive, Country Club Road to Kauana Loa Drive, Twin Oaks Road in San Marcos; San Elijo Hills evacuated as well. All schools in the San Marcos Unified School District were closed on the 15th and 16th. California State University, San Marcos, was evacuated on the 14th, along with the surrounding neighborhoods, in the midst of administering spring finals, and remained closed for the rest of the week. Additionally, commencement exercises scheduled for the weekend were also cancelled. Palomar College also closed the 15th and 16th, and postponed its commencement ceremonies until the following week. At 1730 PST on the 22, the Cocos Fire was reported to be 100% contained after torching 1.995 acres. The fire destroyed more than 40 buildings, including 12 single family homes, and damaging at least 2 other homes. The Harmony Grove Spiritualist Association, a 13-acre spiritualist retreat founded in 1896, was particularly hard hit with most of the buildings and residences (22 structures) on the property destroyed. Property damage from the fire is estimated at more than $5.7 million. Three minor injuries have been reported. On July 9, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said that they believe the Cocos Fire was intentionally set by a juvenile, who is now scheduled to appear in juvenile court.

Wider weather episode

Mid-May was marked by a period of very hot, dry and windy conditions. This included an unusually strong Santa Ana wind event with a 1036 mb surface high over the northern Great Basin. Wind speeds were as high as 40-45 mph in SW California and 60 to 80 mph in the foothills and mountains. Over the course of four days, 8 major fires raged across San Diego County due to various causes. Several other smaller brush fires, including the Freeway Fire (56 acres near Naval Weapons Station on Camp Pendleton). At one point on the 15th, 9 fires were burning at once, many in and around residential/populated areas of north San Diego County. In total, these fires burned just under 27,000 acres, causing over $50 million in property damage and the cost to fight the fires themselves. Only minor injuries were reported and no deaths directly attributed to the fires.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 522967. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.