Sometime after 11:30 a.m. PDT today, my wife spotted black, billowing smoke rising in the near distance; I suspected perhaps along El Cajon Blvd or among the houses between cross-streets Florida and Mississippi. A fire truck turning that way on Florida seemed to confirm my suspicion. But I was mistaken.
Smoke had dissipated by the time I crossed the Boulevard on foot in pursuit. As I approached Polk, smokey smell tickled my nostrils—yuck, from up the very steep hill to Georgia. After confirming with a bicyclist walking down the incline that the fire really was above, I grudgingly trudged away. Sure enough, with burning legs the cost, I had come to the right street.
Police cars blocked both ends of the block, which five firetrucks filled. Locals milled about, and I heard two of them talking about being too close when flames and smoke rose upwards towards residents’ balconies (multi-unit buildings flanked the stricken structure).
I was awe-struck by the location. Just a few days earlier, Annie and I walked by the boarded-up house—set back from the street behind a sizeable front yard. I wondered out loud about a home that meant something to someone in the distant past.
I learned today that the property means something now to squatting homeless whose presence has summoned police and/or the fire brigade. One woman clearly told me today’s smoke out was but one in a series of recent incidents. When I would later leave, she could be heard politely asking a police officer what neighbors could do to enable the cops (and firemen) to be more effective—such as being eyes on scene to inform professionals when the homeless returned.
I wouldn’t be surprised if local news media identifies the location as North Park. But technically speaking, according to official maps, University Heights ends another half block South at Lincoln. Hey, just saying. Interestingly, also along Georgia but on the other side of El Cajon, a group of abandoned buildings attracted squatters who started several fires before someone fenced off the property.
I used Nikon Zf and NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens to shoot the Featured Image and companions. Vitals: f/6.3, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 115mm; 12:06 p.m. Second: f/6.3, ISO 160, 1/250 sec, 110mm; 12:07 p.m. Third: f/6.3, ISO 140, 1/500 sec, 200mm; 1:09 p.m.