Evacuations ordered after wildfire breaks out in Spring Valley – NBC 7 San Diego

Brief evacuations were ordered by first responders Thursday afternoon after a brush fire began burning in East County near the intersection of state roads 125 and 54.

Officials said the Spring Valley flames had charred an acre of land near Quarry and Sweetwater roads at 12:30 p.m., but the fire spread significantly over the following hour. However, the spread of the flames was stopped around 2 p.m

Mandatory evacuations were ordered in some areas, including on Leigh Avenue and Spring Canyon Drive – a map of affected areas can be seen below – but officials de-escalated the evacuation order to an evacuation warning later that afternoon.

While Cal Fire originally had two firefighting helicopters on scene to support San Miguel Fire & Rescue and its ground crews, those aircraft were released and sent to combat a second fire that broke out shortly thereafter in the college area. Something similar occurred with most ground crews, although some firefighters were still on scene in Spring Valley dealing with hot spots around 2:45 p.m.

Initially, evacuees were told to go to the gym at Mt. Miguel High School, but by 2:30 p.m. NBC 7 spoke with some people who had already returned to the scene.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story —Ed.