DeLuz Fire on Camp Pendleton Near Full Containment

A wildfire that scorched about 2,236 acres of Camp Pendleton was 83 percent contained this morning, with full containment was expected this evening, base officials said.

The noninjury blaze erupted around 12:45 p.m. Saturday close to Lake O'Neill, near the center of the U.S. Marine Corps installation, according to Camp Pendleton's public affairs office. As of 8 a.m., the fire was 83 percent contained, with full containment expected by 6 p.m. today.

The cause was under investigation, but base officials said it did not begin in an artillery training area.

A total of 195 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, Cal Fire and other agencies were battling the fire at last count, base officials said this morning.

In the hours after the flames began spreading, about 330 residents of the O'Neill Heights military housing area were evacuated. They were able to return home late the following afternoon.

Roughly 30 patients at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton were transferred to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside and Naval Medical Center San Diego in Balboa Park due to the fire. They were brought back Sunday morning, when the hospital resumed normal operations, officials said.

The blaze resulted in no reported injuries but caused some minor structural damage, according to the Marine Corps.

—City News Service