Fairmount Fire started near a homeless encampment; cause under investigation

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Firefighters wearing yellow hard hats, fire gear and hoses hose down a burned hillside.

They clean up what’s left of thefire that broke out near Fairmount Avenue and Montezuma Road here Thursday afternoon. By Friday afternoon it was 80% under control.

“We were actually here when they were firebombing the middle of the canyon; we got right in the middle of the spray and found the house was still there, which was reassuring,” Charlie Ertl said.

Charlie and Jeannie Ertl live on Lila Drive, where crews rushed to protect homes from the gorge.

“They came here and there were flames here. And they were able to fight them back because they said our house would be gone in a short time,” Jeannie Ertl said.

San Diego Fire-Rescue says crews on the ground and in the air were able to extinguish the fire, which has burned dozens of acres and damaged several homes. No one was injured.

While the cause remains under investigation, department officials told ABC 10News the fire started at or near a homeless encampment.

“We have seen an increase in homeless activity over the last year and a half,” said Ron Anderson, a Talmadge resident.

Although fire officials did not specify where exactly the fire started, Anderson and others raised concerns Friday about encampments in nearby areas.

Anderson said he’s seen a few in a canyon next to where the fire started, and another near Fairmount and Montezuma.

“It’s a huge encampment,” Anderson said. “The stuff we find, I mean… fire was inevitable. You know, they have, as they said, propane tanks. They have gas bottles. They have everything you know.”

But others I spoke to did not.

“We didn’t see the encampments. But we did see people with shopping carts on the side of the road as people were doing their shopping and leaving the carts there and bringing the items up,” Charlie Ertl said.

All in all, there’s one thing many are saying Friday: thank you to the first responders.

“What can you say? Good for them and we’re very lucky to have them,” Jeannie Ertl said.