Firefighters spend hours dousing burning bales of hay in San Pasqual Valley

San Diego fire crews spent more than 11 hours dousing a fire that started late Saturday and burned hundreds of hay bales in a field near the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in the San Pasqual Valley, fire officials said.

Five San Diego Fire-Rescue engines, three brush rigs and a water tender were dispatched to the scene, with Cal Fire sending two bulldozers to break apart the hay bales, said Capt. Jason Shanley, a fire department spokesperson.

The fire was reported around 11:20 p.m. Saturday on Old Milky Way near San Pasqual Valley Road. Crews initially thought it was a dumpster fire but when they arrived, they found hay bales burning in the open field, Shanley said. The cause of the fire was not known.

“We called in Cal Fire bulldozers to tear them all apart,” Shanley said.

In a post on Facebook, the department said the fire had burned “hundreds of large rolled and stacked hay bales” and that fire crews soaked the hay with water and foam. Smoke from the fire remained in the area into Sunday morning.