The last time it was this dry in January, there were barely more than 500 people in San Diego. The year was 1850, and only a quarter-inch of rain had fallen in six months. It made the region ripe for wildfire — but that wasn’t much of a concern. The city’s population was clustered along the coast, far from the backcountry, where most fires burned.

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, an increase of 68 acres since the last update. A crew of 66 firefighters succeeded in containing 50% of the fire as of Tuesday evening.