On Jan. 23, the Border 2 Fire arose on Otay Mountain at 2:30 P.M. according to nbcsandiego, yet the cause remains unknown. The fire has maintained 10 percent containment, stretching along 6,625 acres and is continuing to spread based on continuous updates from fire.ca.gov. Temporary road closures are implemented for sections of Alta Road and Otay Lakes Road among others, along with evacuation warnings and orders issued in surrounding vicinities. Temporary evacuation points, shelters and animal shelters include: Southwestern College, Edwards Cinema parking lots, Cuyamaca College and SD County Animal Services, Bonita. .
The sandiegouniontribune reports several SUHSD schools closures yesterday, including Eastlake Middle and Eastlake High, Olympian High and East Hills Academy. Via social media and email, SUHSD sent out a series of updates to students and parents late Thursday, carrying into Friday evening ensuring the safety of students and faculty. The updates consist of monitoring the fire situation, air quality concerns, school closures and canceling all activities and events district wide for Jan. 24 throughout the weekend. Despite this, BVH remained open. BVH Principal Lee Romero shares the reason why other schools closed and BVH did not.
“At about seven o’clock, six o’clock this morning, [SUHSD] decided to close certain schools. The reason was not because they believed the fire might burn the schools, it was because in the event of a real emergency, they did not want to affect the people coming in and out of the school,” Romero said. “And second thing is in that area [around] those schools, they did do an evacuation. They did not want to put those families in peril.”
Unlike the schools listed above, BVH did not have concerns about the potential dangers of keeping the school open. However, these decisions were not made without notifying the BVH community, following SUHSD’s announcements, Romero himself sent out an email and Instagram message later in the day restating that BVH would remain open, as well as listing all the precautionary measures the school is taking. Due to a higher air quality index, students and teachers were encouraged to stay inside during nutrition break and lunch; masks were also distributed by staff.
“We wanted to make sure we got our masks. We still have masks from COVID times, and we brought those out this morning, knowing that we were going to deploy them to all of the classrooms for students to use,” Romero said. “We are monitoring the city’s air quality system to make sure that it is at an acceptable rate. Now, it is not at a good rate. It is at a higher level, but it is not at a dangerous rate.”
Romero personally arrived at BVH at 6:30 A.M. on Friday to take parents’ numerous calls and inform them that the school would be open. However, when it comes to a child’s safety, parents tend to be protective. Romero mentions he told parents it was up to their judgment and reasoning if they felt they should keep their child home, especially for those with “asthma” or a “lung problem.” Regardless of the announcements stating that it was safe to attend school, various students got picked up early by their parents due to worries regarding the air quality and the fire potentially reaching BVH and neighboring homes.
As of now, BVH is still a safe distance from the Border 2 Fire, although according to accuweather, the air quality has reached ‘poor’ as copious amounts of smoke and grains of ash travel in everchanging directions. Many hope for rain as projected by foxweather to peak on Sunday, Jan. 26. Although the rain may cause mudslides, it will help mitigate the situation for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. SUHSD also sent out an email on Jan. 24 at 5:30 P.M., marking Jan. 26 as an important day for notifying parents and students that the next update “regarding the school schedule for next week” will be announced.
