SAN DIEGO — According to San Diego Fire Rescue, the fire that erupted Thursday afternoon in the canyons near Talmadge and surrounding communities started in or near a homeless encampment.
The fire started around 1:30 p.m. near Fairmount Avenue and Montezuma Road and burned about 40 acres. A portion of Montezuma remained shut down in both directions Friday as fire crews continued to work in the area.
"At this point we don't know what caused the fire, we do know it started in or very near a homeless encampment," said Monica Munoz, Public Information Officer of San Diego Fire-Rescue.
"The investigators will continue with this case and do as much as possible to gather information. Sometimes in cases like this, or even with a residential fire, you'll see the evidence has burned beyond the ability to determine what caused the fire," Munoz added.
Munoz said they'll have a better idea in the next few days if an exact cause can be determined.
The fire damaged six homes. Several homes were evacuated. No one was injured.
The scene was chaotic as police went door-to-door telling people to leave while flames could be seen nearby.
"My wife was home; she had to evacuate, and the neighbors came pounding on her door," said Talmadge resident Jared Cole.
His home survived the fire without any damage, but some of his neighbors' homes had damage in their backyards.
"Everyone's in clean-up mode," he said.
CBS 8 spoke with Troy Merkel, who caught it all on video as flames threatened homes.
“You plan for it in your head, but when it’s here, you kind of have a moment of freeze,” he said. “Yeah, it was a little panicked, especially when you can feel and hear, you can feel the heat and hear the sound of the crackling of the trees.”
Merkel told CBS 8 water drops from the air and crucial work from firefighters on the ground saved their homes.