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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2007 
One of 2 Baja Fires Burns Parts of Tecate-Area Spa
 Anna Cearley - San Diego Union-Tribune
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| | A firefighter holds his helmet during a gust of wind while using a water canon on top of a fire truck to try to protect buildings that were in the path of a fast-moving wildfire burning through the Rancho Bernardo neighborhood of San Diego, California October 22, 2007. Fast-moving wildfires raged across Southern California on Monday, forcing at least 250,000 people to flee their homes and destroying hundreds of buildings as desperate fire officials called for help from other states. (Reuters/Fred Greaves) |
A fire that started yesterday morning destroyed several structures at Rancho La Puerta, a 3,000-acre luxury spa in the Tecate area, Mexican authorities said.
The fire was one of two main blazes in Baja California. They were fanned by the same powerful winds that fed the Harris fire on the U.S. side of the border, although they started separately, said Arturo Aragón, an investigator with the Baja California Civil Protection Agency.
No deaths or injuries in Mexico were linked to the fires, but heavy smoke and ash coated Tijuana. Schools in the city were closed. The Tijuana-Tecate highway was closed because of poor visibility but reopened yesterday afternoon, according to the Tijuana newspaper Frontera.
Firefighters had contained the Tecate-area blaze as of yesterday afternoon, and Aragón said it was no longer a threat to Rancho La Puerta.
Guests at Rancho La Puerta were evacuated to Hotel del Coronado, according to a message left on the spa's voice answering machine.
Aragón said portions of the Harris fire crossed into Mexico on Sunday but local firefighters were able to control it. A change in the winds yesterday helped turn that fire northward, he said.
José Rosas, executive coordinator for the Tijuana region of Civil Protection, said authorities were preparing to evacuate eastern portions of Tijuana should the Harris fire turn south again.
In addition to the blaze near Rancho La Puerta, Rosas said, Baja California is also battling a fire in the Ensenada area. He did not know how many acres had burned as a result of those two fires. |
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