Home Care In Escondido, CA

Five people were hospitalized and 12 dogs rescued on Wednesday after a fire tore through two second-story apartments at a complex in Escondido, officials said.

The fire started at about 10:15 a.m. at a senior living apartment complex, called Summerfield Villas, off of Grand Avenue and San Pasqual Valley Road.

Escondido Fire Department acting Chief Tyler Batson said the fire was contained to two apartments, which were fully engulfed in flames when first responders arrived.

While only two units were badly damaged, more than 30 residents were displaced due to San Diego Gas & Electric having to shut off the power to the entire building for several hours.

Escondido Fire officials said while they were able to put out the flames pretty quickly, one of the things they had to take into consideration is working on a day where temperatures reached into the triple digits.

Several people had to be rescued from their balconies. In all, five people were transported to local hospitals — some due to spoke inhalation others for possible broken bones.

Two San Diego Humane Society veterinarians also responded to the scene and evaluated around two dozen animals for possible smoke inhalation and other medical concerns, but none required critical care.

A total of three adult dogs and eight four-week-old puppies were rescued from one of the apartments. The dogs were passed through a window to firefighters waiting below. No owner was present at the time of the rescue, according to a statement from the Humane Society.

All 11 dogs were taken to the organization's Escondido campus, where they were receiving care through the organization's emergency boarding program.

An additional dog was found running near the fire and was brought to the Escondido campus by a community member. The dog may have also come from the apartment complex, as one of the SDHS veterinarians recognized him from the scene.

"Our hearts go out to all affected by today's fire," the SDHS said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

An extreme heat warning will remain in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday for much of San Diego County, according to the National Weather Service.

ESCONDIDO, CA — Escondido shattered a daily heat record Wednesday, soaring 8 degrees above the previous mark as extreme heat and unusually high humidity gripped the region.

Dangerous conditions will continue across much of Southern California Thursday, with forecasters expecting some cooling Friday as well as relief from the humidity ushered in by Tropical Storm Marie.

The temperature in Escondido climbed to 112 degrees Wednesday, breaking the previous record for the date by 8 degrees.

Several other heat records were set across Southern California. Long Beach reached 107 degrees, breaking the record for the date of 103 set in 2015. Downtown Los Angeles reached 105, tying the record set in 2024. Santa Ana heated up to 108 degrees, shattering the record of 103 set in 2024. Anaheim also set a new record by reaching 107 degrees, breaking the record of 104 set in 2024.

An extreme heat warning will remain in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday for much of San Diego County, according to the National Weather Service.

"Humidity will still remain elevated on Thursday, resulting in continued significant heat issues," according to the NWS.

The NWS said it will keep the extreme heat warnings in effect through Thursday evening because "even with the cooling, many areas would be well within advisory criteria."

Temperatures Thursday are expected to be anywhere from 4 to 10 degrees cooler than they were on Wednesday before falling another 4-6 degrees Friday in most places, according to the National Weather Service. After that, the cooldown will be more dramatic, with daytime highs being roughly 15 degrees cooler Sunday than Thursday, according to forescaters.

Escondido's daytime high is forecast to be 98 degrees Thursday and 84 by Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

The cooldown comes as a high-pressure system weakens and onshore flow increases, while little change is expected across interior areas.

A noticeable cooling trend is expected Friday and Saturday as onshore flow increases, the marine layer begins to return, and high pressure continues to weaken, forecasters said.

By Sunday, a more tranquil weather pattern is expected to settle over Southern California, with temperatures in most areas about 5 to 10 degrees below seasonal averages through Wednesday.

The heat came as Southern California continued recovering from high surf and coastal flooding generated by former Hurricane Marie, which damaged beachfront properties in Long Beach, Dana Point and Malibu earlier this week.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Some things just take a little bit of time to come together. That appears to be the situation unfolding for a new Costco warehouse store at Escondido’s shopping center, formerly known as North County Fair. The Costco deal has been toggled on and off over the last year, but the latest development is clearly in the “on” position. The City will now consider approving a lease agreement directly with Costco at their upcoming public meeting on Wednesday, August 12.

The City action will not be the first time approving plans for a Costco in Escondido. In June of 2022, the City approved a 20-year lease with an additional seven five-year options. That lease would have resulted in $35 million worth of capital investment in the center. Fixed rent payments to the City and sales tax revenue were projected to produce an income stream of $1.5 million, and the new warehouse store, plus the additional gas station, would provide 314 jobs.

The 2022 deal was not directly with Costco. Rather, it was between the City and an entity known as “Transformco.” Officially identified as Transform SR Brands LLC, Transformco was an American privately held company formed in 2019 to buy the remaining assets of Sears Holdings Corporation after it filed for bankruptcy. Sears had been an anchor tenant at the original Escondido Village Mall since 1971 and moved to the newly constructed North County Fair in the mid-1980’s. However, the store closed in 2020 after the entire Sears company filed for bankruptcy.

By 2023, while the building sat vacant beside a busy Interstate 15, the proposed deal had changed to one directly between the City and Costco. The direct involvement of Costco didn’t change the attractive economics for Escondido. The infusion of money into improving the center, the financial benefits to the City, and the number of jobs created remained the same as proposed a year earlier. All that fell apart just before Thanksgiving 2023 with the City’s announcement that Costco had backed out. Although Costco had paid fees and a development application was well underway, they requested work on that application be stopped.

At the time, no reason for the change of plans was given. Nonetheless, speculation ran wide as to the reasons…ranging from Costco’s internal decision-making, rumors of permitting and processing problems, to potential land use restrictions and the impact of state laws requiring the city to use excess lands for housing purposes rather than commercial uses. Some even said it was because the City really didn’t control the property, even though the City is the owner and lessor of nearly the entire shopping center property, including the proposed Costco site. To the trained eye, however, a closer look at the City’s closed session agendas over the last several months shows that Costco and the City were obviously still on speaking terms, including as recently as July 29, 2026, when the City discussed real estate negotiations directly with Costco. The result now appears to be a proposed lease and other materials up for City Council approval on Wednesday, August 12.

The proposed lease would be directly between the City and Costco, and similar to the prior proposal, would be for a base period of 20 years with up to seven additional renewal options of five years each. The City’s staff report notes that the longer term of this lease is expected to not only provide stability for Costco operations but likely encourage additional investment in the shopping center by other leaseholders, thus increasing rent revenues and sales tax revenues even further for the City.

Fixed rent is established at a flat $100,000 per year for the term of the lease, although that rent would not be charged for up to 36 months while Costco obtains the necessary development and approvals. Those approvals are not guaranteed by the lease. In an improvement from prior forecasts, the City now anticipates receiving more than $2 million a year in sales tax revenue from the new warehouse store. And worth noting is that these revenues are unrestricted revenues for the City’s general fund which can be used for the benefit of the residents of the City at the discretion of the City Council.

For those on City staff and the consultants laboring on this task for now more than five years, the result appears to finally be at hand. While the economic benefits will be significant and the jobs will be nice, many in southern Escondido will likely appreciate the many benefits of a Costco warehouse, not to mention the less expensive gasoline and a cheap hot dog and soda.

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