San Diego · Incident start: October 15, 2026
At Camp Pendleton, reduced visibility prompted closure of Interstate 5 in both directions. A second incident, the Scales Fire, was reported near the San Onofre checkpoint. Proximity did not make the two fires one perimeter.
What the incident record shows
Crews stopped the smaller fire’s spread at approximately 20 acres. Henderson’s estimate moved from 3,132 to 3,260 acres, and officials attributed the later adjustment to improved mapping. Counting Scales as the explanation for that 128-acre revision would contradict the incident account.
Reading the figures
The CAL FIRE incident summary updated October 19, 2026 lists 3,260 acres and 100% containment. These are historical reporting figures.
The closure shows how smoke affected transport beyond the mapped burn. Its existence does not establish a measured roadside smoke concentration, and the acreage revision does not establish a late burst of spread.