Southern California wildfire forces thousands to evacuate

Firefighters on Tuesday were working to contain the Highland Fire that started near the small town of Aguanga the day before and grew to include more than 2,200 acres. Aguanga is about 70 miles north of San Diego. The fire forced roughly 4,000 people to evacuate from approximately 1,100 homes. Local authorities have not yet reported any injuries. The flare-up has destroyed three structures and damaged at least six others.

How did the fire start? Authorities have not determined the specific cause of the blaze but did say that dry brush caught fire Monday afternoon and soon spread due to wind conditions. It began as a roughly 14-acre fire before metastasizing into a much larger blaze.

Dig deeper: Read John Dawson’s report in WORLD Magazine about the record-breaking wildfires that recently finished burning through Canada.