Some residents soaked their lawns with sprinklers just in case a fire broke out amid a red flag warning across San Diego County Tuesday. NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes spoke to one neighbor who wanted to take precaution so that history would not repeat itself.
What to Know
- Wind gusts were expected to reach up to 65 mph before tapering off Tuesday night
- More than 46,500 people are currently without power
- Public-safety power shutoff locations can be found on SDG&E's website and community-resource-center locations here.
- School closures: Alpine Union, Dehesa, Jamul-Dulzura Union, Julian Union Elementary, Julian Union High, Mountain Empire, Spencer Valley and Warner Unified school districts, as well as Barona Indian Charter School and Vivian Banks Charter School, will be closed Wednesday
Santa Ana winds and extremely low humidity were creating a dangerous weather concoction for Southern California that sparked wildfires in San Diego and forced SDG&E to cut power to tens of thousands of people on Tuesday.
More than 46,500 SDG&E customers were without power by Tuesday night with a potential for up to 115,800 to have their utilities cut in order to prevent Santa Ana winds from downing power lines and sparking wildfires.
NBC 7 meteorologists said it was one of the strongest Santa Ana wind events in recent years. Gusts combined with relative humidity less than 10% means any wildfire that sparks could spread rapidly.
Firefighters made fairly quick work of two fires on Tuesday morning, one in Ramona that burned less than 2 acres, and a second later in the day in East County near the U.S.-Mexico border that burned at least two dozen acres before crews gained the upper hand.
A Red Flag Warning, which is issued during critical fire danger conditions, will be in effect until 4 a.m. Wednesday for the San Diego County mountains and inland valleys, according to the National Weather Service.
NBC 7's team of reporters and meteorologists are tracking fire weather conditions and their effects across San Diego County. Follow the latest updates on fire weather conditions in our live blog.
