At San Diego's Miramar Marine base, a glimpse of the county's first wildfire

As I was driving north on 163 towards Rancho Bernardo, the winds were high, the traffic was thick and I could see a pretty unwelcome sight in the distance: A huge plume of billowing white smoke crossing the sky in big puffs, with black smoke billows coming into sight at the base of it as I drove further.

It had to be a wildfire, or a structure fire, which officials had warned the city was in prime conditions for, same as Los Angeles had been, even though the red flag warning had yet to go out.

It seemed pretty close to civilization this time, not out in the back country where most wildfires are likely to start. And it was still small, nothing like the conflagration seen in Los Angeles, though all the conflagrations started that way. Surely they'd have it under control, and maybe they already did.

I got closer and could see it was near the Miramar turnoff, where a Marine Air Corps base and the Miramar military cemetery were.

The traffic was heavy and dangerous in the wind. I had to keep focused on the road, but allowed myself one quick glimpse in the direction of the smoke, and was astonished to see flames. No, this fire wasn't done. I checked again, and saw a flash of a huge red flying-fire-engine chopper shaped like a C-130 above it, dumping water.

It would probably be O.K. City officials said they were more prepared than Los Angeles was for these events -- as they had learned much from the Cedar and Witch fires of past years. And in the end it was.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Firefighters contained a brush fire that broke out Monday afternoon at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, officials said.

The fire had spread to about 12 acres by mid-afternoon, but officials said forward progress had been stopped on the blaze, according to MCAS Miramar Cpt. Michael Scaccia.

The blaze was first reported around 2:20 p.m. in brush near Kearny Villa Road and Miramar Way, San Diego Fire-Rescue officials said.

Officials said the wind was favorable for firefighters, and no structures were threatened. Agencies sent two helicopters and several ground crews to the scene.

Though it was contained, it still wasn't done. On the way back from my appointment an hour later, I saw a huge fixed-wing aircraft, probably a water tanker, cross the freeway at low altitude, obviously on its way to dump more on the flames. When I got home, I learned the fire had scorched 12 acres on the Marine base, and its progress was halted, but the flames had yet to be put out.

Close call. And it called to mind that this Marine base had been a target of an NGO group that sought to place a homeless encampment onto the same Marine base, to keep the homeless from fouling the tourist and residential areas in the city. The Marine commander of the base thought it was a bad idea at the time, citing unexploded ordnance and live-fire ranges. I wrote about that here in 2023.

Now we learn the big reason it shouldn't ever happen -- the base is a dry-grass tinderbox and the homeless are responsible for a lot of wildfires, from irresponsibly created campfires never snuffed out, to actual arson. Based on what I could find, there is no evidence that the NGO, known as Sunbreak Ranch, is operating on the base, they seem to still be in the concept stage. But there have been reports on my NextDoor neighborhood watch websites indicating that the homeless are still starting fires for various purposes and authorities aren't doing anything about it. A new one has reported popped up in Ramona, which is cowboy country out to the east. I hear a really heavy helicopter chuck-chucking overhead and passing, guessing that it's on its way to Ramona. We have two more days to go of this high wind, so fingers crossed.

No matter what the cause of the fire, placing the homeless onto this Marine base is never going to be a good idea. That fire seen is too close to home.

Image: Screen shot from CBS 8 video, via YouTube

If you experience technical problems, please write to helpdesk@americanthinker.com