Wildfire in California, July 29 to 31, 2002

Name: Wildfire in California, July 29 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-07-29T13:08
End: 2002-07-31T23:59
Location: California

July 29 to 31, 2002 · NWS SGX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Named the "Pines Fire", it began when a helicopter nipped a power line. The resulting sparks started the fire.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $2.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.

Named the "Pines Fire", it began when a helicopter nipped a power line. The resulting sparks started the fire. As July closed, the fire was only 15% contained, had burned 21 structures and 17,600 acres. The cost of fighting the fire in July alone was $2.9 million and 2149 personnel had been assigned to the fire.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS San Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 29, 1:00 PM PST, 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 29, 1:00 PM PST, 8 minutes before

EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
200 PM PDT MON JUL 29 2002

.SYNOPSIS...UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE WILL STRENGTHEN OVER THE WEST
THROUGH WEDNESDAY...BRINGING FAIR AND WARMER WEATHER. ON THURSDAY AN
UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL SLOWLY DROP SOUTH OVER THE AREA RESULTING IN
A DEEPER COASTAL MARINE LAYER AND GENERAL COOLING THROUGH NEXT
WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD OVER THE NEXT 24 TO 48
HOURS HELPING TO LOWER THE MARINE LAYER AS WELL AS BRINGING WARMING
TO MOST AREAS THROUGH WEDNESDAY. 12Z ETA AND AVN DO HINT AT SOME
INCREASE IN HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE MOVING INTO THE DESERTS AND
MOUNTAINS ON WEDNESDAY BUT BASED ON TIMEHEIGHT CROSS SECTIONS THE
MOISTURE WILL BE MOSTLY ABOVE 600 MBS. A VORT MAX SLIDES NORTHWEST
FROM ARIZONA INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA JUST BRUSHING BY OUR CWFA TO THE
EAST LATE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.  MOST ACTIVITY WITH THIS VORT MAX
SHOULD REMAIN OVER THE EASTERN DESERTS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
OUTSIDE OF OUR CWFA.

MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO BRING A TROUGH INTO THE WEST
COAST...MAINLY NORTH OF OUR CWFA LATE IN THE WEEK AND OVER THE
WEEKEND. THE TROUGH WILL KEEP SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA UNDER A DRY
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT THROUGH THE PERIOD. A WEAK CUT OFF LOW OVER THE
EASTERN PACIFIC GETS PICKED UP WITH THIS TROUGH AND SLIDES NORTHEAST
ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. MOISTURE
FROM THE REMAINS OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION ELIDA WILL BE CAUGHT UP INTO
THIS LOW BUT THIS MOISTURE SHOULD REMAIN WELL NORTH OF OUR CWFA
DURING THE PERIOD MOVING INLAND ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND
SOUTHERN OREGON ON THURSDAY. SOME DEEPENING OF THE MARINE LAYER IS
EXPECTED WITH STRATUS/FOG PUSHING INTO THE INLAND VALLEYS LATE IN
THE WEEK.

SAN...NONE.

HORTON

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, San Diego

When: July 29, 1:08 PM PST to July 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: San Diego County, 2 mi E of Julian
Property damage: $2.0 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in California in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in California, July 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5303617.