The Jim fire, which burned more than 550 acres in the Holy Jim area of the Cleveland National Forest earlier this month, was unintentionally started during a wildlife-and-habitat restoration project, U.S. Forest Service officials said on Wednesday, March 30.

The fire started “during barrier removal,” said Nathan Judy, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

Forest Service officials did not say if explosives were used as part of the project and whether that was what ignited the blaze, but they did say it was human-caused and unintentional.

A couple, visiting Santiago Peak, has told the Southern California News Group that they heard an explosion and, minutes later, saw thick smoke heading up in their direction just past 11 a.m. on March 2.

The fire started in a canyon and headed uphill toward Santiago Peak, quickly spreading to about 500 acres, officials have said. Firefighters were helped when the fire’s path went toward the 2018 Holy fire burn scar.

Cabin residents in Trabuco and Holy Jim canyons had received notice of planned demolition work for a dam-removal project. During those demolitions, Forest Service members were to be partnered with U.S. Marine Corps personnel to use explosives to blow up dams.

Judy has said Forest Service employees were in the area when the fire broke out, and on Wednesday he said the fire started during work with the Marines but that he wasn’t provided information saying the Jim fire was started by an explosion.

No structures were threatened and three firefighters suffered minor injuries, officials said, adding that the fire was deemed out on March 27.

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