Cooking fire likely starts one-acre creekbed blaze

Firefighters have contained a one-acre brush fire that started about 2:30 p.m. on Friday in the creekbed behind the Shadow Glen apartments on the north end of 14th Street.

The fire likely was started by someone cooking in the creekbed, said CalFire Battalion Chief Greg Griswold with the Ramona Fire Department. Griswold, incident commander at the scene, said two hand crews with 32 firefighters joined 25 firefighters on engines to extinguish the blaze. The CalFire and Ramona firefighters were assisted by two airplanes that dropped retardant on the flames. Two helicopters heading to the fire were called back because the fire was under control, said Griswold, adding that CalFire and U.S. Forest Service aircraft responded to the fire. A forest service crew also arrived to assist. Griswold estimated winds at 4 to 5 mph.

No one was injured or arrested, said Griswold, adding that it looked like the person or persons cooking left when the fire started.

Firefighters, who had the blaze under control in about a half hour, will be mopping up at the scene for about two hours, Griswold reported.