On October 26, the fire forged into Alpine, Harbison Canyon, Lake Jennings and Crest, burning hundreds more homes in areas that had been devastated by the Laguna Fire 33 years earlier. The fire also crossed several large highways, including Interstate 15, and by noon on October 26, the fire was burning hundreds of homes in the Scripps Ranch community of San Diego, and was threatening many others. In only a few hours, the Cedar Fire pushed southwest over 30 miles (48.3 km) and burned over 100,000 acres (400 km 2) at rates of up to 6,000 acres (24 km 2) per hour. The fire destroyed 39 homes on the Barona Indian Reservation. Overnight, the fast-moving fire killed 12 people living in Wildcat Canyon and Muth Valley in the northern part of Lakeside, who had little or no warning that the fire was approaching. īetween the time the fire started and midnight the predicted strong easterly Santa Ana winds surfaced and the fire burned approximately 5,319 acres. When the helicopter was only minutes away from the fire, a Forest Service fire chief cancelled the water drop because policy required the cutoff of aerial firefighting 30 minutes before sunset. Another Sheriff's helicopter equipped with a Bambi bucket was dispatched to drop water on the fire. A San Diego County Sheriff's Department ASTREA helicopter that was rescuing a hunter spotted the fire at about the same time as the first phone report was received and called for an air response.

Within 30 minutes, 320 firefighters and six fire chiefs were en route. Forest Service had deployed 10 fire engines, two water tenders, two hand crews and two chief officers. Within ten minutes of the initial report, the U.S. At the time it began, at least eleven other wildfires were actively burning in Southern California. It was first reported at 5:37 PM PDT on October 25, 2003, to the south of Ramona in central San Diego County. The Cedar Fire began in the Cuyamaca Mountains within the Cleveland National Forest. ĭrivers scramble up the embankment to escape from Interstate 15, as the Cedar Fire crosses the freeway In December 2017, the Thomas Fire surpassed the Cedar Fire to become California's largest modern wildfire on record, before the Mendocino Complex Fire's Ranch Fire surpassed both fires to become the state's largest wildfire in August 2018. In November 2018, the Camp Fire (2018) surpassed the Tubbs Fire (which had previously surpassed the 1991 Oakland Firestorm and the Cedar Fire) to become the single most destructive wildfire in California history, in terms of the number of buildings destroyed. According to CALFIRE, it is also the fifth deadliest and fourth-most destructive wildfire in state history, causing just over $1.3 billion in damages. The fire remains one of the largest wildfires in California history and, as of 2020, the eighth-largest wildfire in the state's modern history.

Hotspots continued to burn within the Cedar Fire's perimeter until December 5, 2003, when the fire was fully brought under control. By the time the fire was fully contained on November 4, it had destroyed 2,820 buildings (including 2,232 homes) and killed 15 people, including one firefighter. The fire's rapid growth was driven by the Santa Ana wind, causing the fire to spread at a rate of 3,600 acres (15 km 2) per hour. The Cedar Fire was a massive, highly-destructive wildfire, which burned 273,246 acres (1,106 km 2) of land in San Diego County, California, during October and November 2003. Cedar Fire (southern California) Show map of southern California

Cdf fire map