An out-of-control brush fire at Camp Pendleton was creeping closer to the San Onofre nuclear power plant, prompting evacuations.

Southern California Edison said in a tweet that “about a dozen non-essential employees evacuated” from the plant because of the fire.

The plant is located off Interstate 5 at the Orange-San Diego county line north of Camp Pendleton. Edison announced last year it was closing the plant due to structural problems with facility.

The Camp Pendleton fire was spotted shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday and forced evacuations of the De Luz housing area, Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary School and the Naval Weapons Station Fallbrook, which is on the northeast edge of the sprawling base.


A second school and housing area have been evacuated as the brush fire at Camp Pendleton continues to spread. The fire, dubbed the Tomahawk fire, on the northeast section of the base, had burned more than 150 acres as of 1 p.m., according to Cal Fire.

An evacuation center was established at the Paige Fieldhouse on the base.

The Pendleton fire was one of several blazes burning in San Diego County. One in Carlsbad has burned homes.

More than 11,500 evacuation notices have been issued for the fire as it moves through neighborhoods amid steep brushy canyons.