Eagle Fire Command Post at Puerto La Cruz Like a Small Town

About 800 firefighters from agencies and correctional facilities all over California are working the between Warner Springs and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in northeastern San Diego County.

The last report was that the fire was 4,000 acres and 30 percent contained. CalFire will update the public on the size and containment of the fire following its 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. briefings over the next four or five days they expect to be on the fire.

Containment does not mean the fire is under control. It means a boundary line has been established so that the fire is no longer moving forward in that area. However, a fire can jump the containment line, depending on wind or humidity changes, CalFire reports. A fire can be fully contained but still active within the perimeters for days afterward.

According to a CalFire map, there is zero containment on the east side of the Eagle Fire in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. However, as of approximately 3 p.m. Saturday, the fire had not descended down the hill toward the town of Borrego Springs.

CalFire is working to set up informational town hall meetings for the public to attend in Warner Springs and Borrego Springs. The venues have been reserved and organizers are waiting to hear the availability of their chief officers so they can pin down the meeting times.

Some firefighters are battling the Eagle Fire from the air, some from the ground, and some from within logistical command trailers at Puerta La Cruz, a CalFire/state Department of Corrections location north of Warner Springs Airport.

CalFire began establishing its command post there Friday morning.

Various vendors are providing food, drinks, showers, tents, a laundry facility and waste collection. Some firefighters are coming in exhausted after working up to 24 hours on a shift, including through the night. One crew had to run uphill away from flames to safety, after working the ground for hours, a source told Patch.

Among the menu items for firefighters on Friday and Saturday: steak, chicken, baked potato, rice pilaf, vegetables, salad bar and chocolate bundt cake.

Helicopters from agencies and private contractors are operating out of a nearby field in Warner Springs and Scout Ranch on Highway 79

There have been no reported injuries as a result of the fire, which began Thursday night on Los Coyotes Indian Reservation near Warner Springs.

Some CalFire staff are staying at the historical Warner Springs Ranch. Others are staying in hotels in Borrego Springs.

CalFire estimated the cost of the operation to be approximately $2 million, as of Saturday morning. The cause of the fire is under investigation.