Crews battle vegetation fire in Holtville

HOLTVILLE, Calif.- The blaze was reported Wednesday night, prompting a large response from both city and county fire units.

Responding engines included Imperial County Fire Department, El Centro Fire Department, NAF-El Centro Fire, Brawley Fire Department, Calipatria Fire Department, Calipatria State Prison Fire Department, and Holtville Fire Department.

Firefighters are working to contain the flames and protect nearby property. So far, the fire has burned 50 acres.

City of Holtville Fire Chief Alex Silva said the call came in around 9 p.m., and by the time her arrived, it was a fully involved fire that was spreading.

"Well, we had it knocked down this morning about 4 o'clock, and then the wind picked up and it's, it spotted north of our location and then took off to the rest of the vegetation," Silva told KYMA.

One Imperial Irrigation District (IID) employee told our newsroom that he was there to check out the property, as the fire was right next to the IID dump site, where brush, branches and more that have been cleared are discarded.

KYMA was told that a few horses from a neighboring home were loaded onto a trailer and moved as a precaution, and we observed a couple of dogs running away from the fire. So far, no properties have been damaged by the fire.

"The Concern at the during the night was the city of Holtville's wastewater treatment plant, and we didn't want that to catch on fire, of course, so that was our priority," Silva answered. "And then again when the fire jumped north, we came out and aggressively attacked it," he said.