A brush fire sent smoke high into the air near one of the most recognizable landmarks of San Diego, the museum at Presidio Park.
White smoke rose from the hillside below the Junipero Serra Museum near the interchange of Interstate 5 and Interstate 8 around 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
Firefighters rushed to put out the fire burning on the hillside just below the large white building many mistake for the Mission San Diego de Alcalá.
Apparently the fire was started from a transient camp and quickly spread uphill according to Maurice Luque, San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson.
The fire got into trees and the thick underbrush.
Firefighting helicopters made several drops of water on the fire, knocking it down within 15 minutes.
Officials said if the winds had been stronger it could have been much worse and closer to the historic landmark.
“There’s a lot of green space, buffer area between where the fire was headed and the structures themselves,” Luque said.
The museum was built in the 1920s on the site known to be where Father Junipero Serra and a group of soldiers established the first fort and mission in what would be become the state of California.