Firefighters were battling a brush fire that broke out in Lake Morena Monday.

Units were dispatched around 1:30 p.m. on Monday to reports of a fire in a rural camping and fishing area off the Cameron Truck Trail close to the Mexican border, according to Cal Fire officials.

“The blaze was stopped at 5.28 acres. Five abandoned buildings that were used for barns and stables were destroyed,” Cal Fire PIO Captain Brent Pascua told City News Service.

No evacuations or injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Authorities issued, then lifted, evacuation warnings Saturday after a vegetation fire broke out in an area near Hauser Canyon, north of Campo.

Cal Fire San Diego and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department responded at about 4 p.m. to the fire near Big Potrero Truck Trail in the Hauser Creek area of Lake Morena.

Initially, five to 10 acres burned at a moderate rate of spread; CalFire said just after 7 p.m. that the total burned area was 20 acres.

The evacuation warning was for residents west or north of Buckman Springs Road at Lake Morena Drive. The evacuation center was at Mountain Empire High School, 3305 Buckman Springs Road in Pine Valley.

Sheriff’s officials lifted the warning at about 6:40 p.m. via social media. They had asked area residents to avoid Lake Morena Drive.

“CalFire and Sheriff units will be working overnight to monitor the area,” they stated via the Sheriff’s department Twitter account.

– City News Service

Investigators sought Friday to determine what caused a solo car crash that killed an 84-year-old motorist on a rural road east of Lake Morena.

The Boulevard man was headed south on a curving stretch of Buckman Springs Road in the Campo area when his 2000 Toyota Camry veered off the east side of the roadway near Oak Drive about 8:40 p.m. Thursday, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The vehicle hit a tree and overturned, ejecting the driver through the front passenger-side window, said CHP public-affairs Officer Travis Garrow.

The motorist, whose name was withheld pending family notification, died at the scene.

Intoxication was not believed to have been a factor in the crash, Garrow said.

Updated at 2:50 p.m. Sept. 18, 2020

— City News Service

A 79-year-old man was found dead about six miles from the Lake Morena campground, a day after he was reported missing, authorities said Thursday.

Deputies began searching for the man on Tuesday after his family reported not hearing from him for the past four days, Sheriff’s Lt. Damon Blankenbaker said. The man’s family also told deputies he was an avid hiker who was staying at the Lake Morena campgrounds.

On Wednesday, the second day of the search, a body matching the man’s description was found about six miles from the campground, Blankenbaker said.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy to confirm the man’s identity and determine the manner of death, the lieutenant said.

–City News Service

The boat launch at Lake Morena in San Diego’s East County is open again after several years of inactivity and residents have the recent rains to thank, officials announced Wednesday.

The boat launch was closed because the water level was too low, making it unsafe, according to the county. The heavy rains over the winter have made the launch safe again.

Boats, personal watercraft, fishing float tubes, canoes and kayaks were allowed back in the reservoir on April 1. Motorboats are also available to rent for daily fishing and sightseeing activities.

“Reopening the boat launch is a big deal for us and for local fishermen. People can now enjoy the lake from their own boats,” Supervising Park Ranger James Stowers said. “We encourage everyone to visit the lake this spring, and to participate in activities like fishing lessons and animal encounters.”

The boat-launch fee is $8. All boats must undergo a quagga mussel inspection prior to launch. Quagga mussels are an invasive species that upset the natural ecosystem of a body of water.

Swimming is prohibited at Lake Morena because it is a working reservoir.

Lake Morena is a camping and fishing park located in the East County community of Campo, southwest of the Laguna Mountains.

–City News Service

The wildfire that blackened 23 acres near Lake Morena County Park Friday was completely contained Saturday.

The blaze in the Campo-area preserve erupted about 12:45 p.m., according to Cal Fire.

Ground crews and personnel aboard air tankers and water-dropping helicopters fought the blaze. The fire posed no immediate structural threats, said Kendal Bortisser, a fire captain with the state agency.

Sheriff’s deputies visited homes in the Lake Morena area to alert residents about the fire and advise them to monitor the situation in case evacuations became necessary.

By 2 p.m., firefighters had halted the spread of the blaze. They remained in the area in the late afternoon, dousing hot spots and making sure smoldering embers would not ignite more vegetation, Bortisser said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

—City News Service

A 19-year-old man trying to hike a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexico border to Idyllwild died Thursday after his father alerted rescuers that he was struggling near Lake Morena.

The victim’s father made an emergency call shortly before 1:30 p.m. after speaking to his son by phone and learning that he was not well, according to Cal Fire.

When public safety personnel met up with the youth off Lake Morena Drive in the Campo area, he was alert and talking, Capt. Kendal Bortisser of Cal Fire said.

His condition soon worsened, and he passed out and stopped breathing. Medics tried in vain to revive him before declaring him dead at the scene, Bortisser said.

The county Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the young man’s cause of death. His name was not released.

– City News Service