Residents give firefighters a long standing ovation for their success in fighting the Montezuma Fire, at the recent community forum sponsored by Kensington Fire Safe and Alvarado Estates Fire Safe Council.
On October 31, 2024, San Diego witnessed its second-largest fire in history. The Montezuma Fire, which erupted on Montezuma Road just east of Fairmount Avenue, drew a massive emergency response. Within about 10 minutes, the first crews arrived on the scene. Over 350 personnel—including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, engine strike teams, hand crews, and specialty apparatus from CalFire, San Diego Police, and other agencies—worked tirelessly to contain the blaze.
Their efforts paid off. Despite early concerns that the fire would devastate multiple homes, only one house was damaged beyond repair.
(For more information on the Montezuma fire read Alvarado Estates Fire Safe Council Chair Karen Austin’s article.)
On November 21, nearly 300 residents gathered at Hoover High School for a program to learn more about the fire and how to prepare for future wildfires. The event, organized by Kensington Fire Safe and Alvarado Estates Fire Safe Council, featured a welcome by the new head of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, Chief Robert Logan, and presentations by Dan Eddy, Assistant Fire Chief of Emergency Operations, and Assistant Fire Marshall Alex Kane. This was followed by a Q&A session with officials including Council President Sean Elo-Rivera, Lieutenant Christian Sharp of the San Diego Police Department, and Parks and Recreation Opens Spaces Deputy Director Erika Ferreira and Senior Park Ranger Erika Weikel.
“I will tell you, from being a 25-year firefighter…when I pulled up on the scene, I expected us to lose 15 to 20 homes,” said Chief Dan Eddy during his review of the fire. He commended the new evacuation system, describing it as a significant improvement over previous processes, and praised both firefighters and police for their swift and effective evacuation efforts, noting they “did a phenomenal job of getting people at risk out.”
The program, planned just three weeks after the fire to address residents’ pressing questions and concerns, was co-sponsored by the San Diego Fire Foundation, Kensington-Talmadge Community Association, College Area Community Council, and the Fire Safe Councils of San Diego County.
The presentation was recorded on video and you can watch it in four sections:
We are extremely grateful to Kensington resident Charles Stebbins for recording the presentation for us.
You can view all the photos from the event on DropBox. Thanks to Kensington resident Gary Payne, husband of our own board member Zoraida Payne, for these great shots.
For more details, see the local news coverage from KPBS:
Fire Officials Answer Questions About Brush Management, Traffic Control After College Area Fire.