Camp Pendleton fire partially contained after burning 400 acres
The fire erupted in the Camp Talega area of Camp Pendleton in the early afternoon, said a base spokesman.
Dante Ulanday - News Moderator 
A fire spread across a sprawling training range at Camp Pendleton Thursday, blackening about 400 acres and sending a thick column of smoke into the air.
The blaze, however, posed no immediate structural threats.
It erupted in the Camp Talega area of the U.S. Marine Corps installation in the early afternoon, said USMC Capt James Sartain, a base spokesman.
Within five hours, ground and airborne crews had the burn area roughly 30% contained, according to base officials. That estimate increased to 37% nearing 6:30 p.m., according to Watch Duty, a nonprofit fire reporting service.
Though the fire was located near the northwestern border of the military installation, there was “no risk of it going off into Orange County right now,” Sartain said shortly before 6 p.m. The smoke rose near San Clemente.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, the captain said.
