Highland Fire reaches 50% containment with no growth overnight

Cal Fire says it had more success battling the Highland Fire burning near Aguanga Thursday night and still projects the fire will be fully contained by the middle of next week.

The agency said the fire did not grow overnight and is now about 50% contained, with 2,487 acres burned. A fully contained fire is one that has been fully surrounded by a perimeter that prevents it from growing, although it can still burn within it.

An update posted Friday morning stated that fire activity was minimal overnight, while the agency worked through the evening to cool hot spots and address any issues with changing wind direction. Weather conditions were expected to be favorable for firefighting Friday, with the National Weather Service forecasting calm winds and clear skies. Steep and rugged terrain, however, remains a challenge. The plan for Friday was for firefighters to continue to work to build containment lines around the fire while cooling the hot spots.

The recent success in increasing containment of the fire led the agency to reduce the number of structures it has deemed “threatened by the fire” from over 2,300 Thursday night to 1,500 on Friday morning. Seven structures have been destroyed while six others were damaged. Those numbers have not changed in several days.

Cal Fire did not announce any further reductions to the areas subject to evacuation orders, which had already been reduced over the last couple of days. A map of the current areas subject to evacuation orders and warnings can be found at linktr.ee/calfirerru, where Cal Fire also continues to post updates and other information.

More than 1,200 firefighters remain assigned to the fire along with five air tankers and two helicopters.