Brush Fire Sweeps Through Junkyard

A fast-moving Otay Mesa brush fire burned 60 to 80 acres Monday afternoon, swept through a junkyard and temporarily caused the closure of Brown Field, the small commercial airport near the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said.

San Diego city firefighters and California Department of Forestry crews used air tankers to help douse the blaze, which began about 2:30 p.m. near Heritage and Otay Valley roads, authorities said. The fire was expected to be controlled by late Monday, fire officials said.

The fire burned about 100 cars at the junkyard, a fire department spokeswoman said. There were no other reports of damage and no reports of injuries.

Brown Field was closed for about an hour to clear the air space for air tankers used to help douse the fire, an airport official said. The airport, immediately east of the fire, reopened late Monday.