Border 32 Fire (2022)

Border 32 Fire
Date(s)	August 31, 2022 (2022-08-31) – September 5, 2022 (2022-09-05)
Standort	Barrett Junction, San Diego County, California
Coordinates	32.612181°N 116.707395°W / 32.612181; -116.707395
Statistics
Burned area	4,456 acres (1,803 ha)
Impacts
Structures destroyed	10 structures destroyed
Ignition
Cause	Under investigation
Map
Location in Southern California

8km
5miles

Border 32 Fire

  

Location of Border 32 Fire

The Border 32 Fire was a destructive wildfire that burned amid the 2022 California wildfire season, in the Barrett Junction area along Highway 94 due north of theUnited States-Mexican border border in Riverside County,California during a statewide heatwave. The fire started on August 31, 2022 and proceeded to destroy ten structures and eventually grow to 4,456 acres (1,803 ha) within the rugged chapparal-dense hillsides throughout the area.

Events

Context

The area in which the Border 32 Fire has had a long and destructive history with severe wildfires throughout the San Diego County backcountry along Highway 94 leading into the town of Potrero. The most notable significant fires of recent years had been the santa-ana wind driven Harris Fire of October 2007 which destroyed much of the land the Border 32 incident would ultimately burn in a 90,000 acre swath that destroyed hundreds of structures and killed eight civilians. More recently, the Border Fire which burned 7,609 acres and also killed 2 civilians, had burned in a similar footprint as the Border 32 Fire toward the east along the community of Potrero in June of 2016.

August 31

The blaze --dubbed the Border 32 Fire due to it being the thirty-second fire of significance for the year of 2022 in close proximity to the United States-Mexican border-- sparked at 2:15 PM PDT off Barrett Lake Road and state Route 94 in the Barrett Junction area just southeast of Dulzura and was initially pegged at 30 acres in size but with a dangerous-to-critical rate of spread as it moved toward the north east into the small community of Barrett Junction. Evacuations orders were immediately put in place for the small community as the fire rapidly burned through the cheatgrass and into the dense chaparral along the mountainsides and up toward Potrero Peak. The fire would begin an agressive push towards the rural community of Potrero which then lead authorities to issue a mandatory evacuation order for the entire town as well as much of the rural backcountry west of Campo. By 5 PM, the incident had expanded to 1,400 acres in size as the fire remained spreading at a dangerous rate with zero percent containment.

Throughout the day, the fire would continue to rapidly expand as it destroyed thousands more acres before sundown, crossing much of Highway 94 and proceeding to burn towards the community of Potrero. However by nightfall, fire activity largely subsided allowing resources to mop up spot fires & keeping the progressing fireline held in place through the night. As of 10 PM, that evening, the fire had scorched 4,243 acres and was five percent contained.

September 1 onward

Throughout the Border 32 Fire's second day, activity remained low since the night before despite extreme rising temperatures reaching up to 108°F and low relative humidity in the immediate area as the fireline was holding at 4,438 acres in size. Evacuation order remained in place for much of the area, although residents west of Cochera Via Drive and east of Potrero Valley Road — near the outer edges of the fire — were allowed to return home as by this time over 400 firefighting personnel were containing flareups and hotspots within the burned out landscape. By evening time of September 1, the fire was fourteen percent contained.

Impact

Closures and evacuations

Due to the dramatic and fast-moving spread of the Border 32 Fire, mandatory evacuations were ordered for over 400 homes throughout area from along Barrett Lake Road area, Coyote Holler Road area and Round Potrero Road near Potrero and Dulzura, forcing hundreds of residents to flee. An evacuation center was established at Mountain Empire High School for those affected.

See also

• 2022 California wildfires
• 2016 Border Fire

References

 This article incorporates text from https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2022/8/31/border-32/, a public domain work of the Government of California.