Poomacha (La Jolla) Fire adds additional threat

In addition to the Rice Fire and other fires ravaging Fallbrook,

Rainbow, and DeLuz, the Poomacha fire which began October 23

created still another threat to residents and firefighters.

The fire which was first reported near the La Jolla Indian

Reservation at 3:13 a.m. that Tuesday morning had spread to

1,000 acres by 11:30 a.m. Eight injuries were reported, and

the fire had spread to part of Valley Center.

The evacuation of Valley Center closed the offices of

that town's weekly newspaper, the Valley Roadrunner,

but Roadrunner editor David Ross maintained a blog to

inform readers of the fire's progress. Ross had been

informed that several structures had been destroyed.

The south side of Palomar Mountain has been evacuated,

although the evacuation site is the Palomar Observatory

and parts of the mountain were still considered safe

at the time of the evacuation. However, the fire

was considered zero percent contained as of 11:30 a.m.,

which creates concern that it could spread west to Pala

as well as elsewhere on Palomar Mountain and Valley

Center.