Residents were temporarily evacuated after an RV fire ignited in the Poway neighborhood of San Diego on Saturday afternoon, according to fire officials.
Dispatchers with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department responded to a call about an RV fire on Scripps Poway Parkway in Poway near its border with Scripps Ranch around 3 p.m. When they arrived, they found a motor home fully engulfed in flames near Pomerado Road and Scripps Poway Parkway.
“The gentlemen said he was moving uphill, lost his brake power — the power in the brake — so he backed out against the curb, stopped, and then the vehicle caught fire,” SDFD Battalion Chief Josh Slatinsky told NBC 7's Jeanette Quezada.
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That fire ignited the brush, sparking a 2-acre brush fire along the canyon between Oak View and Old Stone Road.
About three to 10 residences were evacuated on Old Stone Road and Oakview Way due to the flames, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Families that were evacuated were told they could stay at a nearby elementary school.
Pomerado Road and Scripps Poway Parkway was closed temporarily due to the fire, according to the City of Poway. It reopened around 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Firefighters stopped the forward rate of spread around 5 p.m. and remained at the scene to mop-up.
Residents react
Resident Jasmine Lopez captured video as flames threatened her home.
“I felt scared because I thought, the house is going to be on fire … it’s way too close,” Lopez said.
As emergency crews attacked the flames from the air, Justin Matthews did what he could to help his neighbors.
“I rode down my bike and we just went down, house to house, knocking on the doors warning them about the fire,” Mathews said.
Jasmine’s neighbor Fred Brockmeier said at one point the fire appeared to be 50 feet away from his property.
“I start smelling smoke, came out, putting embers out,” Brockmeier said.
When police arrived, he was asked to evacuate. On Saturday night, neighbors were relieved everyone in the community was safe.
