{"id":242932,"date":"2026-03-30T04:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T04:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/242932\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T04:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T04:12:20","slug":"brush-fire-burns-in-riverbed-in-santee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/242932\/","title":{"rendered":"Brush fire burns in riverbed in Santee"},"content":{"rendered":"

A brush fire broke out Sunday night in a riverbed near homes and a shopping center in Santee, prompting Sheriff’s deputies to evacuate nearby stores.<\/p>\n

SAN DIEGO \u2014 Firefighters are battling a 4-acre brush fire in a riverbed near the 100 block of Town Center Parkway in Santee, the Santee Fire Department said Sunday night.<\/p>\n

The fire was reported at 6:42 p.m. along River Walk Court near River Trail Place.<\/p>\n

The fire was burning in the riverbed between townhomes to the north and Town Center Parkway Plaza to the south.<\/p>\n

Sheriff’s deputies evacuated shoppers from a Walmart and a Michaels craft store. No other residences or neighborhoods were evacuated.<\/p>\n

Images from a UC San Diego\/SDG&E wildfire camera show bright orange flames burning toward the south, where the shopping center is located.<\/p>\n

A firefighting helicopter was called in to make aerial water drops.<\/p>\n

No injuries or damage to any structures were immediately reported, nor has there been any word on how the fire started.<\/p>\n

This is a breaking story and will be updated as more information is made available.<\/p>\n


\nTips: Preparing for a Wildfire Evacuation <\/p>\n

CalFire has built a list of things to have ready<\/a> in case you and your family are evacuated during any wildfire or disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ensure your wildfire \u2018Go Bag\u2019 includes:<\/p>\n

A 3-day supply of non-perishable food & 3 gallons of water per personA map with at least 2 evacuation routesNecessary prescriptions or medicationsA change of clothes & extra eyeglasses\/contact lensesExtra car keys, credit cards, cash, or traveler\u2019s checksA first aid kit & sanitation suppliesA flashlight & battery-powered radio with extra batteriesCopies of important documents (birth certificates, passports, etc.)Pet food & water <\/p>\n

Always have sturdy shoes and a flashlight near your bed, ready for sudden night evacuations.<\/p>\n

If time allows, consider adding:<\/p>\n

Valuables that are easy to carryFamily photos and irreplaceable itemsPersonal computer data on hard drives and disksChargers for cell phones and laptops <\/p>\n


\nFirefighting terms and what they mean <\/p>\n

When wildfires break out across San Diego County, emergency officials use technical terms like “containment” and “forward rate of spread” that can confuse residents trying to understand the threat level. CBS 8 visited CAL FIRE headquarters and spoke with Cal Fire Captain Robert Johnson to decode the terminology that could help residents better assess their safety during wildfire emergencies.<\/p>\n

Johnson said “contained” means the fire is surrounded by barriers \u2014 either fire lines built by crews or natural breaks like roads, lakes and ridges.<\/p>\n

When officials report a fire is “25% contained,” barriers surround a quarter of the fire’s perimeter. But Johnson warns that doesn’t mean the fire is 25% extinguished.<\/p>\n

“If you have 25% containment, 50% containment, it doesn’t mean that we’re out of the woods yet. It doesn’t mean we’re safe. It doesn’t mean the fire is completely extinguished, so there still are hot spots that tend to be burning within the perimeter,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n

The forward rate of spread has been stopped:<\/p>\n

Containment percentages can remain static while a fire continues growing, depending on whether the “forward rate of spread has stopped.”<\/p>\n

“The fire activity has been reduced, and the fire is not actively growing in size. This does not mean the fire is contained or controlled. It just means that the predominant active side of the fire is not actively growing,” Johnson explained.<\/p>\n

A “controlled” fire means 100% containment with flames extinguished and fuel cleared, though crews continue monitoring for hot spots.<\/p>\n

“Once those hot spots are extinguished and safe, then the incident commander may say the fire is now under control,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Finally, “out” means no hot spots or smoke remain.<\/p>\n

“Once a fire has 100% containment lines around the perimeter of the fire and all the hot spots within the fire’s perimeter have been extinguished and the fire is controlled, now the fire is considered to be out,” Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Evacuation orders, warnings:<\/p>\n

RED: Evacuation Order issued:\u00a0Evacuate immediately to a safe location.\u00a0<\/p>\n

YELLOW: Evacuation Warning Issued: Potential threat to life and\/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets and livestock should leave now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: WILDFIRES | What you need to know to prepare, stay safe<\/a><\/p>\n

WATCH RELATED: How to know when it’s time to go during a wildfire:<\/p>\n


\nWhat factors contribute to high fire danger in Southern California? <\/p>\n


\nDry, warm Santa Ana winds <\/p>\n

Santa Ana Winds occur when air from the desert region blows westward toward the California coast. \u00a0This results in dry air that flows east to west over the mountains and towards the valleys and coast of Southern California. Santa Ana winds typically feel warm because as the cool desert air moves down the side of the mountain, it is compressed, which causes the temperature of the air to rise. We tend to see relative humidity plummet and temperatures soar during offshore wind events like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These winds create high fire conditions not only for a fire to start but offshore, Santa Ana winds are the perfect fan needed to allow a fire to explode in size once it starts.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nLack of rain, dry vegetation <\/p>\n

The water year restarts every year on October 1\u00a0and measures the rain totals for the season through the following September. When rain totals are below average, the vegetation that once was green turns brown and dry and can serve as fuel for wildfires. The saturated ground can help mitigate fire risk substantially, but the opposite tends to elevate our fire risk. The sooner and more frequently we see substantial rainfall, the lower our risk of a wildfire starting and spreading rapidly.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\nElectrical equipment concerns <\/p>\n

When a region is in critical fire danger, power companies tend to shut off power in pre-planned ways in order to prevent electrical equipment from sparking or starting fires. It is also because electric consumption tends to climb with warmer temperatures (usually thanks to A\/C needs) and can lead to overall stress on the power grid. When you combine the risk of fire with planned power shut-offs, many school districts will close. Schools can also be used as monitoring sites for fire crews in the event of a fire starting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A brush fire broke out Sunday night in a riverbed near homes and a shopping center in Santee,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-242932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-san-diego","9":"tag-san-diego-headlines","10":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}