Harris fire does "what we didn't want it to do"

Chula Vista Fire Chief Doug Perry offered a grim assessment of the Harris fire: "What happened was our fire did what we didn't want it to do."

Rising winds last night turned the fire into a two-headed monster, with one front moving south and southwest toward Otay Lake and the northern head moving west toward the town of Bonita.

Perry said the blaze could reach Bonita's outskirts in two to four hours. A voluntary evacuation alert went out for Bonita hills at 4 a.m.

The winds are low and firefighters are resting up, but they expect things to pick up about noon, Perry said.

"The bad thing about being down here, and we've always said it, is we're in the cul-de-sac, and we're always last to get resources," said Perry, although he expected help to arrive later today.

But the Witch fire, which has spread into north San Diego, is the priority, so Chula Vista is using old-school tactics such as cutting lines to control their fire.

"The helicopters are helping a lot, but we just don't have enough of them," Perry said.

-- Ari Bloomekatz