A wind-driven wildfire charred dozens of acres in a sparsely developed area south of Pala Mesa on Wednesday, damaging structures and forcing pre-dawn evacuations before crews could gain the upper hand on the flames.

Lilac Fire initially started today at 1:19 a.m. in San Diego County. It has burned 85 acres after being active for 19 hours. A crew of 66 firefighters succeeded in containing 50% of the fire as of Tuesday evening. Investigations into its cause are still ongoing.