Two fires broke out within roughly 75 minutes of each other and a little more than a mile apart Wednesday in Borrego Springs, seriously damaging a home, destroying an outbuilding and blackening swaths of brushy terrain before crews could snuff out the flames.
There were no immediate indications that the fires’ origins were related, according to Mike Cornette, a captain with Cal Fire.
The first of the blazes erupted about 3:20 p.m. in the area of Lazy S and Saint Vincent drives, a short distance north of Borrego Springs High School, according to Cal Fire.
It took ground crews and personnel aboard air tankers and water- dropping helicopters less than an hour to extinguish the flames, which briefly threatened about a half-dozen homes, gutted an auxiliary structure and spread over about five open acres, said Cornette.
Shortly after 4:30 p.m., the second fire began spreading through a single-family home on Sun and Shadows Drive near Palm Canyon Drive, about six blocks south of the site of the previous blaze. Ground crews, some of whom had been fighting the other blaze, were able to put out the flames in about 45 minutes.
The fire extensively damaged the house and displaced three people, all adults. The American Red Cross was called in to help the residents arrange for emergency shelter.
The causes of the blazes were under investigation.