The Grove fire near Palomar Mountain continued to burn Friday while firefighters, battling the topography and weather, made progress containing the blaze.
According to Cal Fire Capt. Mike Cornette, the blaze was around 863 acres with 25 percent containment on Friday, a similar acreage total to Thursday. Cornette said there had been a “decrease in fire activity.”
“We’ve experienced some high heat and some wind this afternoon,” Cornette said. “But there’s not a whole lot of smoke.”
We have an #UPDATE on the #GroveFire burning near Warner Springs.
The red area in the map below remains under an EVACUATION ORDER.
The yellow areas remain under an EVACUATION WARNING. Evacuated residents in these areas can return home but are strongly encouraged to REMAIN… pic.twitter.com/DqDyRay9sD
— San Diego Sheriff (@SDSheriff) July 26, 2024
Many of the evacuation orders were updated to warnings on Thursday, Cornette said. Areas under evacuation order still are those in the immediate vicinity of the fire.
“We just want to make sure we keep residents out of that area for our safety and their safety,” Cornette said. “Everything else is an evacuation warning to allow residents to repopulate.”
The Grove fire was first reported about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Dodge Valley near the rural community of Sunshine Summit.
Later that night, officials announced evacuation orders for the areas around Chihuahua Valley Road, east of state Route 79 and south of the San Diego-Riverside county line. Evacuation warnings were issued in the area of Stone Ridge Estates.
#GroveFire [update] The fire is now 863 acres and is 25% contained. Acreage provided by sensor aircraft.
— CAL FIRE/San Diego County Fire (@CALFIRESANDIEGO) July 26, 2024
Sheriff’s officials updated the orders around 8:20 p.m. Thursday to say residents living in areas toward the southeast and northeast end of the fire were allowed to return home.
Throughout the response to the blaze, firefighters have been dealing with rocky slopes and high temperatures, particularly along the southeast side of the fire. However, crews have been able to make inroads over the last two days.
“Firefighters were able to get out there in the area and put in some work,” Cornette said. “We’re making progress, but there’s still work to be done.”
National Weather Service officials said that heading into the weekend temperatures are expected to drop into the mid-to-high 80s. Wind speeds are projected to stay relatively high through Saturday but slow down come the end of the weekend.