Chula Vista evacuations

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Authorities called for a mandatory evacuation of the San Miguel Ranch and Rolling Hills Ranch communities in northern Chula Vista shortly before 11 a.m.

At 11:23 a.m., Capt. Rubin Hernandez of the California Department of Forestry said the fire was burning north of the San Miguel Mountains and south of Highway 94. He said the fire had come dangerously close to Rolling Hills Ranch and the Salt Creek community, threatening about 2,000 homes.

But firefighters made a big push to protect the structures.

At 11:58 a.m., two water-dropping helicopters pounded the flames near Salt Creek, said Deputy Fire Chief Jim S. Gerring of the Chula Vista Fire Department.

“We knocked the fire back into itself and stopped its forward progress,” he said.

Still, the speed and direction of the winds were changing so much, officials said, that it was hard to know where the fire was going to go next. Within half an hour, the winds had increased from 10 to 15 mph to 20 to 25 mph and shifted from an easterly direction to westerly and back and forth.

The winds are “very unpredictable,” Gerring said, noting that he had never seen such conditions.

But while the evacuation order remains in effect, he said, “this area is much safer than it was an hour ago.”

-- Ari Bloomekatz