The Morning After The Poinsettia Fire

Sunrise at Ponto Beach.

With the sun rising behind the smokey skies of Carlsbad and many roads still closed, we rolled out for a quick tour of the area most affected by the May 14, 2014 Poinsettia Fire. As we moved east on Poinsettia from Aviara we were amazed by two things. One, it could have been so much worse, and two, what a great job firefighters did containing the fire and protecting and saving hundreds of homes. (Click here for a map of Fire zone).

The fire, which reportedly started near Alga Norte Park, jumped from open space to open space seemingly right over neighborhoods driven west by high winds. First, on the Northeast side of Poinsettia and El Camino Real, then across El Camino Real down to Cassia and again over Poinsettia to the open space just west of Aviara Park to the Southwest of Palomar Airport Road and Camino Vida Robles to Paseo Del Lago where the only commercial building burned.

That Carlsbad only lost eight homes, one condo complex, and one commercial building is a testament to the skills of the crews fighting the fire. In location after location that we visited we saw where the fire had come right up to the side and backyards of dozens of homes, condos, and apartments, yet they were all untouched by the flames. Sure, the cars and the ground were covered in ash, but the fires were stopped short of damaging more buildings. And for that, we are grateful.

We just hope the fire fighters can do the same for our neighbors in San Marcos. Their Cocos Fire seems to be growing as the day goes on.

For more images from the Poinsettia Fire burn zone follow the jump.
Looking North down the canyon to the commercial building burned on Paseo Del Lago.