By Jo Moreland
of The Daily Californian
Investigators this morning were trying to determine the cause of a weekend brush fire that burned two wooden railroad bridges north of Jacumba.
They also were investigating small fires that happened last night in the Dehesa, Harbison Canyon and Tecate areas of the East County.
The Saturday blaze about five to eight miles north of Jacumba burned about 640 acres of brush and grass, and halted train service to the Imperial Valley.
"The bridges were completely destroyed, burned thoroughly," Rick Cecil, general manager of the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway, said today.
"Train service over that section of line has been suspended. It's unknown how long it will take to complete repairs because it's an inaccessible area. It's very steep, nothing but a sheer bluff."
Capt. Jim Bradley of the California Department of Forestry said 200 firefighters battled the flames that began about 3 p.m. Saturday, five miles north of Jacumba in the Carrizo Gorge area on railroad right-of-way.
The firefighters were able to put out the flames around 5 p.m. Sunday in the roadless terrain. Two engines, three helicopters, two airtankers and 13 crews were needed to control the blaze.
Some of the firefighters were brought in by rail from Jacumba. No one was hurt, and there weren't any other structures damaged.
Temperatures soared above 100 Sunday afternoon as thick brush from heavy winter rains blazed.
"It was steep, hot, rocky, rough terrain," said Bradley.
The freight normally carried along that section of railroad line will be rerouted through Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads through the Los Angeles basin to San Diego.
Cecil said one trestle was 200 feet long, and the other was about 100 feet long. They ranged in height from 12-30 feet. He said that no tunnel was destroyed, contrary to earlier news reports.
