Cal Fire quickly contains Barrett Fire in Dulzura

DULZURA (KUSI) — Monday 11:00 a.m. — A brushfire sparked by a motorcycle east of Dulzura Sunday was extinguished within a few hours, thanks to quick work by fire crews, Cal Fire officials said Monday. 

A motorcycle on Highway 94 in the hills between Dulzura and Barrett Junction drove off the paved road, causing brush to ignite, Capt. Kendall Bortisser said.

No structures were damaged or threatened by the fire, which burned east of the historic Clark Ranch, about 45 miles east of San Diego. There were no injuries.

The fire was first reported at three acres, then grew to six acres within about a half hour. An earlier estimate of the fire’s size was too big, due to faulty equipment on one of the aircraft tasked with mapping the fire’s size and location, Bortisser said.

Dispatchers sent 15 engines, a bulldozer, three hand crews, two water tenders, two air tankers, two helicopters and one fixed-wing observation plane when the fire was first reported.

Two fire engines and one hand crew were assigned to stay on scene Monday to make sure there were no flare-ups as a result of any hot spots that may have been left behind Sunday, Bortisser said.

Sunday 7:20 p.m. — A large number of firefighters and five aircraft battled a quick-spreading brushfire, sparked by a motorcycle, in the hills east of Dulzura Sunday, but "were getting a handle” on the blaze, one said.

No structures were damaged or threatened as of mid-afternoon by the fire, which was burning east of the historic Clark Ranch about 45 miles east of San Diego.

Highway 94 was closed between Summit Road, juts east of Barrett Junction, to the state Route 188 cutoff to Tecate.

The fire broke out at about 1:15 p.m. when an off-road motorcycle’s hot underside ignited brush. The motorcyclist was not injured, said Cal Fire spokesman Isaac Sanchez.

First reported at three acres, it grew to 10 acres within about a half hour, according to firefighters.

Dispatchers sent 15 engines, a bulldozer, three hand crews, two water tenders, two water tankers, two helicopters and one fixed-wing observation plane.

The fire had surrounded — but not damaged — the City of San Diego’s old Dulzura flume, Sanchez said. It carries water from Barrett Lake to the Sweetwater Reservoir near Chula Vista, which was San Diego’s sole municipal water supply in the first part of the 20th Century.