Update July 6, 2025 8 a.m.--The fire is 95% contained, per Cal Fire.

Update July 4, 4:30 p.m. -- All evacuation warnings are lifted and all roads are open. Cal Fire asks that people please drive carefully. Smoke is still visible, but there is no danger to the public at this point, per County Emergency Services.

Update July 3, 8:30 a.m.  The #McCainFire has burned 1,352 acres and is 50% contained. Evacuation warnings remain in place for portions of Boulevard as firefighters continue working in rugged terrain, though evacuation orders were lifted.The Red Cross has closed the evacuation center at Golden Acorn.

Update July 2, 3:30 p.m.-- De Anza evacuation order has been lifted. Residents can return home but some nearby areas remain under an evacuation warning; these residents are asked to remain vigilant since the fire is still burning. To see the zones for the evacuation warning, follow this link.

Update July 2, 8:00 a.m.-- I-8 West has reopened.  The fire has burned 1,000 acres and is 5% contained.

By Rebecca Person

Photos by Rebecca Person and photographers who asked to be anonymous

October 1, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) -- Waves of border crossers quietly filter into the high desert towns of Jacumba Hot Springs and Boulevard in the farthest eastern corner of San Diego County.

Local residents and volunteers there respond with rounds of water and supplies. Surprisingly, many locals are unaware of the human drama unfolding all around them. Some who do encounter bands of migrants on back country roads use caution, fearing arrest for assisting illegal border crossers.

East County News Service

June 23, 2023 (Boulevard) -- A woman has been arrested on suspicion of shooting her daughter in Boulevard. 

Shortly before 10 a.m.,  deputies from the Sheriff's Rural Command responded to a call about a 22-year-old woman with a gunshot wound who came to a fire station on Church Road.

Deputies learned that the victim and her mother, Andrea Najera, had gotten into an argument earlier that morning inside their home near the fire station.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Deborah Jean Peck via Backcountry Community Bulletin Board on Facebook

January 24, 2023 (Boulevard) – An early morning fire on January 17 has destroyed the Manzanita Diner in Boulevard. Long a popular stop for motorists traveling along historic Old Highway 80, the building has housed a pizzeria and Italian restaurant as well as an earlier Basque restaurant. The diner had also been a gathering place for community events through the years.

Update 5:15 p.m. -- Power has been restored to all customers, according to the SDG&E website.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Fran Materra, via Facebook: Thanksgiving by lanternlight in Potrero

November 26, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – An estimated 2,520 SDG&E customers remain in the dark on Black Friday due to power-shut offs amid a red flag warning for high fire danger. About half the communities originally blacked out have power restored, but these areas remain without power:  Alpine, Boulevard, the Campo reservation, Descanso, Jamul, Potrero, the Viejas Reservation, and Warner Springs.

More than 50,000 customers remain at risk of outages yet to come.  View the list of communities at risk at https://www.sdge.com/psps-dashboard. SDG&E has set up community resource centers where residents without power can go to recharge devices, pickup ice, water, snacks and more. Find the closest CRC at SDG&E’s CRC look-up tool.

East County residents posted comments and complaints on social media regarding the outages. While some railed against SDG&E for cutting power on a holiday, others pre-cooked foods early, grateful for the warnings.  Others dined out at restaurants, brought in hot meals, or headed to relatives homes’ outside the blacked-out areas. Some also voiced thanks that no homes were lost to wildfires.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: New power poles in Pine Valley are made of steel, not wood, for fire safety, as part of the upgrades that SDG&E has been installing across inland San Diego County.

Updated August 23, 2020 9:40 a.m. with responses from SDG&E.

August 22, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) – Amid a record-breaking heat wave with monsoonal thunderstorms, flash floods and lightning-sparked fires forecast as potential added hazards, SDG&E has announced plans to shut off power for hours during the heat of the day on Sunday and Monday across much of San Diego County.  

The outages are to upgrade wood poles to steel, among other equipment upgrades or maintenance planned.

The NWS has warned that the intense heat  this week can be life-threatening for those without air conditioning, yet the power outage will leave any residents who lack generators without access to safe, cool spaces amid the COVID-19 pandemic when many public, air-conditioned places are shut down.

Rural residents with electric well pumps will also be left without water for people or livestock to drink, as well as for fighting fires, as many rural residents equipped with tanks and hoses have done in past brush fires, unless they have invested in generators. Downed communications including internet and in some areas, phone service also leave residents unable to receive emergency alerts despite a high potential for emergencies during the extreme weather conditions.

By Rebecca Person

Miriam Raftery also contributed to this article

Photos: An existing wind project on the Campo reservation has previously had multiple fires caused by exploding wind turbines, shown here, raising alarm among area residents over fire dangers and other potential hazards posed by the proposed new and far larger turbines

February 3, 2020 (Campo) -- Residents of Campo, Boulevard and Jacumba voiced their concerns Jan. 23rd at a meeting in Boulevard held by the County Planning Development Services staff addressing the construction of 120 wind turbines in Boulevard and on the Campo Reservation.

The wind turbines will be 596’ tall, taller than towers which dot the high desert that stand between 325' to almost 400 ft tall. 60 turbines are planned for the Campo Indian Reservation, and 30 turbines for McCain Valley near I-8 freeway in Boulevard. According to Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Community Planning Group, these may be the largest wind turbines ever erected on land. Turbines on tribal land would also abut her property in rural Boulevard. Setbacks from some homes would be far less than at many other wind projects, even though the turbines are larger.

Over 60 local residents gathered at the meeting and many spoke of the effects existing towers have had on their quality of life. Campo Band of Mission Indians tribal members who live on the Campo Reservation and oppose the project stated that they have presented a petition with 65 signatures asking their tribal council to overturn an earlier disputed vote to erect the giant turbines on the reservation.

By Miriam Raftery

September 26, 2019 (Boulevard, Calif.) – The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court decision that the federal government did not violate laws protecting eagles in granting approval of the Tule Wind project.

The lawsuit was filed by the Protect Our Communities Foundation, Backcountry Against Dumps, and Donna Tisdale against the U.S. Department of Interior, the Bureau of Land Management, and leaders of both agencies. The project spans federal, tribal, private, state and county lands.  

By Miriam Raftery

June 5, 2019 (Campo) – Public participation is needed at two upcoming meetings on Terra-Gen’s proposal to install 60 wind turbines, each 586 feet tall and capable of producing 4.2 megawatts of power.  The turbines are proposed on the Campo tribal reservation, from north of I-8 to near the border in the south. 

“These turbines are about twice the size with twice the harmful energy and noise as existing local Kumeyaay Wind and Tule Wind turbines. If new turbines are approved, life for many area residents will change for the worst.” Says Donna Tisdale, chair of the Boulevard Planning Group which represents nearby communities. She adds, “People are already sick around existing turbines.”        

Below are details on upcoming meetings June 6 and June 19, where the public can learn more and speak out:    

East County News Service

February 19, 2019 (Boulevard) – A blue Mazda that failed to stop for U.S. Border Patrol agents this evening on McCain Valley Road near Olde HIghway 80 regarding possible immigration violations led officers on a chase that resulted in a rollover crash in Boulevard, injuring several peopole.

The driver failed to yield to a Border Patrol vehicle with flashing lights and siren at 5:15 p.m.  A pursuit was initiatied and the driver turned onto several roads before driving south on Shasta Way just south of State Route 94.  At a dip in the road, the driver lost control, striking a steel fence and utility pole. The vehicle overturned, coming to rest on its wheels, says Officer Travis Garrow with the California HIghway Patrol.

County denies request for health impacts of turbines, even as more are proposed

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: New proposed turbines would be much taller and produce more energy than these older Kumeyaay Wind turbines, also broadening the areas that could be impacted by noise, vibrations, and electromagnetic interefence with devices such as cell phones

December 6, 2018 (Campo) –Tonight, the Bureau of Indian Affairs will hold a scoping meeting on a notice to prepare n environmental impact statement for a proposal to build 60 wind turbines up to 586 feet tall (taller than the highest skyscraper in San Diego) on the Campo Indian reservation. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Campo Tribal Hall, 36190 Church Road (BIA 10) at highway 94 in Campo.  Written comments can also be submitted by December 21^st. Find details at www.CampoWind.com.

The new Campo Wind project is proposed for most Campo reservation ridgelines from north of I-8 to the U.S./Mexico border, each 4 megawatts.  Neighbors and the Boulevard Planning Group have raised concerns over the large turbines including noise, sleep disruption, health impacts and lost property values.   View flyer.

Minutes of the Boulevard Planning Group meeting from November 1, 2018 reveal numerous residents’ complaints about problems reportedly associated with similarly large-scale wind turbines recently installed at the Tule Wind project in McCain  Valley as well as turbines at the Kumeyaay Wind facility in Campo. Those complaints range from noise and vibrations to interference with cell phone service, a vital concern in an area prone to wildfires where communication is critical.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Sunrise Powerlink tower dwarfs mountain ridges in McCain Valley

September 7, 2018 (Boulevard) -- Boulder Brush LLC (Terra-Gen) is seeking a major use permit to construct and operate a gen-tie line and substation/switchyard facilities on 110 acres of private land in McCain Valley south of I-8. The gen-time line would carry energy from the Terra-Gen Wind project proposed on Campo Kumeyaay tribal lands.

East County News Service

August 8, 2018 (Boulevard) – Boulevard residents are invited to the Backcountry Resource Center (the old Boulevard Fire Station) on August 20^th at 7 p.m. to give your input on the new Backcountry Resource Center.  Come share your ideas on what you’d like to see, how you’d like to participate, and your dreams for the community.

See flyer for details.

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2018 (Boulevard) – The Boulevard Planning Group meets Thursday, March 1^st at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training Room, 33919 Ribbonwood Road, Boulevard.  The board is expected to take action on proposed release of a sexually violent predator on McCain Valley Road.

The board will also receive updates and hold discussions on issues including Supervisors’ climate action plan, Tule Wind noise complaints, Protect Our Communities’ appeal challenging federal approval of Tule Wind phase II, and revival of two solar projects formerly proposed by Soitec. Rugged Solar has been taken over by Clean Focus and Tierra Del sol Solar has been taken over by Invenergy and renamed Boulevard Solar.

East County News Service

File photo: Sheriff SWAT officers

October 9, 2017 (Boulevard) – Brian Ellis, 34, was arrested around 11 p.m. last night for arson and assault with a deadly weapon following an overnight SWAT stand-off in Boulevard.

Deputies responded to a call reporting assault with a deadly weapon in the 38000 block of Tierra Real Road around 5:38 p.m..  According to San Diego Sheriff’s Sergeant William Hout, the suspect “had struck a female relative in the face with a baseball bat and injured a male relative with a sword.”