Lightning strikes throughout San Diego
Area near train tracks set ablaze during thunderstorm
Colin Mullaney / Assistant News Editor / The USD Vista
Ominous clouds hung over the Alcalá Vista Apartments during Monday evening, Oct. 4, as students made their way to dinner at the Student Life Pavilion (SLP). Flashes of lightning could be seen in the far distance as the wind began to pick up, announcing the imminent arrival of what would later prove an intense display. Inside the SLP, students watched out the wide windows overlooking the canyon, where ordinarily they might see a pleasant orange sunset.
Bursts of energy overhead resembled strobe lights, sometimes accompanied by the rumbling of thunder and sometimes jumping from cloud-to-cloud noiselessly, but not without great effect.
Like most students, USD junior, Natalie Cerf, went to her apartment window to watch the storm, but her view contained something far more terrifying; Cerf reported that she saw a large fire springing up only a short distance away from campus.
“I noticed [a fire] because I got up to stand by the window to watch the lightning and immediately noticed the flames and smoke,” Cerf recounted. “The fire looked like a massive bonfire to me. I couldn’t tell exactly how large it was, but it looked like it was getting bigger as I watched. I’d never seen fire like that so close up.” Worried, Cerf tried to gauge how close the fire might be, and whether it posed a legitimate threat to her or the USD campus community.
“At the time I was watching it happen, I couldn’t tell exactly where the fire was. It was definitely west of campus and my apartment, so I guessed somewhere by SeaWorld, and it turned out to be by Pacific Beach I believe. It looked like it was just a few miles from campus, relatively close to us, and I couldn’t tell how contained the fire was,” Cerf stated.
Because the fire appeared uncontained, Cerf believed it could spread and cause significant damage, if it had not already.
“I was definitely worried for the people that were affected and how many more people and property it could hurt. I was mainly worried about the fire spreading a bunch more,” Cerf stated.
Fortunately, the whole ordeal only lasted around ten minutes and was put to an end by a combination of natural forces and human intervention.
“I watched the fire until it was eventually put out, maybe ten minutes. I heard sirens and saw helicopters and assumed firefighters were there working to put it out,” Cerf said. “Luckily, it started to downpour and the fire fully went out a few minutes after that.”
Although not privy to the exact circumstances that caused the fire, Cerf theorized that it could have originated from not only the storm, but also the warm temperatures that day.
“I assumed the cause of the fire was the lightning combined with the heat of the day. I’m pretty sure it had gotten close to 90 degrees earlier in the day. It had cooled down but was still warm out for nighttime,” Cerf pointed out.
According to the San Diego Union Tribune, “the storm was generated by warm, highly unstable air that arrived from Baja California,” and the fire seen by Cerf was one of several produced by resultant lightning strikes. The article stated that, “a grove of 30 to 40 full-grown palm trees were on fire near the intersection of Calvo Drive and Rancho Road… threatening about 15 homes in that area.”
However, spokesman for Cal Fire San Diego, Frank LoCoco, confirmed that “they were all tree fires, none of them spread to homes” and nobody was injured.
Seemingly by coincidence, but possibly due to the electrical storm as well, the night of the fire coincided with several false fire alarms going off all around campus, resulting in an email to students from Public Safety about fire safety protocol. In their email, Public Safety reminded students to treat every audible alarm as though a fire were present and to evacuate. Students with additional concerns about fires and fire safety can refer to the recently updated, annual fire safety report for more detailed information about how to handle similar potential future incidents.