Wind shift during controlled burn triggers backcountry road closures

Update: May 25, 6:40 p.m.—

The San Felipe Fire is 1,850 acres and 70 percent contained, with three minor injuries to firefighters, reports Cal Fire..

Update, May 24, 3 p.m.—

The San Felipe Fire is 1,600 acres and 60 percent contained, Cal Fire reports.

Update, May 24—

Cal Fire reports the San Felipe Fire is 1,500 acres with 60 percent containment. Crews made good progress overnight, Cal Fire Capt. Mike Mohler said this morning. One firefirefighter suffered a minor injury, he said. No structures are threatened.

Update, May 23, 7:30 p.m.

— The fire is now 750 acres and 30 percent contained. A strike team of engines was requested, Cal Fire reports, and five engines and a chief left Fresno for the San Felipe fire.

Update, May 23, 4:55 p.m.—

The fire is now 550 acres and 30 percent contained, and there is no threat to structures or infrastructure, Cal Fire reports.

Update, May 23, 3:16 p.m.—

A monitored brush-clearing fire in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park spread beyond its intended boundaries today, prompting the closure of a nearby rural highway while crews worked to regain control of the flames, City News Service reports.

Update, May 23, 3:05 p.m. — Cal Fire reports that the fire in a remote area off state Route 78 and county Highway S2, known as the San Felipe Fire, is now 250 acres with 5 percent containment. No structures or infrastructure are threatened, states the fire agency.

Update, May 23, 2.30 p.m.—

Ground and airborne crews are working to extinguish the fire that has grown to roughly 100 acres in a rugged, remote area off state Route 78 and county Highway S2 in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, according to Cal Fire.

The blaze, which started as a controlled burn but spread past its intended boundaries, is posing no structural threats, the state agency reports.

Initial report, May 23, 2 p.m.—

Cal Fire, conducting a controlled burn off S2 — San Felipe Road, and State Route 78 near San Felipe area, has brought in additional resources due to a shift in winds for safety measures this afternoon.

Cal Fire Capt. Mike Mohler said smoke is visible from Julian, San Felipe, and Shelter Valley. Because of the smoke, Cal Fire has closed San Felipe Road, he said. California Highway Patrol has also reported closing a portion of S22.

Mohler said no structures are threatened. The controlled burn was scheduled for a couple of hundred acres of vegetation, he said.