Updated

Updated · ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV · Aug 17

Sorrento Fire Reaches 25% Containment as 131-Acre Blaze Prompts Partial Evacuation Order

Updated

Updated · ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV · Aug 17

Sorrento Fire Reaches 25% Containment as 131-Acre Blaze Prompts Partial Evacuation Order

Q: What hidden dangers from past disasters blocked ground crews and forced a massive aerial battle against the Sorrento Fire?

The key obstacle was **washouts left behind by an earlier fire**, combined with the fire’s location in a **remote hiking-trail and canyon area** that vehicles and engines could not easily reach. San Diego Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Dan Eddy said those old washouts had damaged access routes, blocking or severely limiting ground crews trying to get into the burn area. Because the flames were moving through steep, rugged terrain near trails rather than roads, firefighters could not quickly drive apparatus to the front of the fire. That forced commanders to lean heavily on a large aerial attack during the critical early phase. Fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters became the main tool to slow the fire’s spread, repeatedly dropping water picked up from a nearby golf course on turnaround times of under three minutes. In short, the “hidden danger” was not only the active fire itself, but the **lingering damage from a previous wildfire—washed-out access in difficult canyon terrain—which made a ground assault ineffective and turned the response into an air-driven firefight**.

3 articles · Updated · ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV · Aug 17

Forward progress on San Diego's 131-acre Sorrento Fire has stopped, and officials lifted all evacuation warnings while keeping an evacuation order in place for Zone SDC-1444-A.
Crews reached 25% containment after multiple aircraft helped halt the fire's spread within about an hour in steep hiking-trail terrain that ground units struggled to access.
Five fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters from Hemet and Ramona are still working overnight, using water from a nearby golf course to hit hot spots and keep flames from crossing roads.
Northbound lanes on Sorrento Valley Boulevard and Vista Sorrento Parkway remain closed near the burn area, where nearby structures are still threatened.
The fire was reported around 1:30 p.m. Sunday and its cause remains unknown.