Several wildfires broke out in San Diego County early Tuesday, triggering evacuation orders and school closures as Southern California faced strong winds and regional red flag warnings.
The fires are the Lilac Fire, the largest of the blazes, the Pala Fire and the Riverview Fire, the latter of which saw its forward rate of spread stopped by early Tuesday.
The San Diego County Office of Education said on X that schools in Bonsall Unified School District are closed Tuesday due to the mandatory evacuations and fires in the area, joining other school closures in the county due to high winds and power outages.
These fires come as San Diego County mountains and valleys, along with other areas in Southern California, are under a red flag warning through 10 p.m. Tuesday due to strong, gusty winds and low relative humidity, according to the National Weather Service San Diego, signifying that if a fire starts, it could spread rapidly.
Meanwhile, the destructive Palisades and Eaton fires that began two weeks ago in Los Angeles County continue to burn.
Here's an overview of the fires in San Diego County as of Tuesday morning.
Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire said that they were on scene at a vegetation fire that was approximately five acres, referred to as the Pala Fire, in a post on X at 12:44 a.m.
Less than an hour later, the fire agencies reported on X that they were on scene of a vegetation fire approximately three acres in size, referred to as the Lilac Fire.
They reported that they were on scene at a third vegetation fire, referred to as the Riverview Fire, that was approximately one acre in size just several minutes before 2 a.m. on X.
The Lilac Fire started near Old Highway 395 and Lilac Road in Bonsall, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office on X. Bonsall is northeast of Oceanside and about a 50-mile drive north of San Diego, route dependent, according to Google Maps.
The Pala Fire is located near Interstate 15 southbound and Steward Canyon Road in San Diego County, and the Riverview Fire broke out in Fallbrook, which is north of Bonsall, according to Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire's updates on X.
The Lilac Fire is 80 acres and is 10% contained, according to Cal Fire's incident update as of 7:55 a.m. The fire's forward rate of spread has been stopped, according to Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire's post on X.
The Pala Fire is 17 acres and is zero percent contained, according to Cal Fire's incident update as of 7:50 a.m., although the forward rate of progress was stopped.
The Riverview Fire's forward rate of spread was stopped at approximately one acre, according to Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire's social media update. Crews were remaining on scene to perform 100% mop-up, according to the North County Fire Protection District's post on X early Tuesday, which refers to the process of extinguishing remaining hotspots or embers that could reignite after the main fire has been contained, according to Cal Fire and the Tehama County Fire Department.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com.