Late on October 24, after the winds had reversed, the Witch Fire began approaching the nearby Poomacha Fire to the north, which was burning near Palomar Mountain, with firefighters and officials fearing that the two wildfires would soon merge. On October 25, the Witch Fire and the Poomacha Fire merged into one gigantic complex fire, with the two wildfires joining to the south of Palomar Mountain. On October 26, the Witch Fire also merged with the contained McCoy Fire, which had previously burned 400 acres in the Pine Hills area, in eastern San Diego County. The Harris Fire burned in a northwest direction from its starting point at Harris Ranch Road in the town of Potrero, in the far south of San Diego County, a few miles north of Tecate, Mexico. On October 23, the fire approached eastern Chula Vista. Many communities were evacuated, with evacuation centers set up at a nearby high school and community center. Thomas James Varshock, 52, of Potrero, died on his property during the Harris Fire on Sunday. His teenage son suffered burn injuries, along with four firefighters of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, who had attempted to rescue them. The fire may also have caused the deaths of four migrant workers near the U.S.–Mexico border. An estimated 1,210 firefighters battled this fire. The Harris Fire also burned into northern Mexico, near the town of Tecate. Numerous fires burned in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Fire data has been provided by the CAL FIRE and independent news media. :   Current data on the fires has been provided by the CAL FIRE and independent news media. As of October 30:       Fires also burned in northern parts of the Mexican state of Baja California. The Harris Fire burned near Tecate, and fires burned near Tijuana as well. More than fifteen thousand hectares were consumed by the wildfires in Baja California. Tijuana, Tecate and Ensenada were the municipalities more affected by the fire. In total there were seven fires caused by Santa Ana winds. The community of Maneadero, in the highlands of Ensenada, was the most affected. The fires occurred at the end of a dry summer and were exacerbated by the seasonal Santa Ana winds, which were blowing at an unusually high strength at that time. "The San Diego Union-Tribune" reported, "Santa Ana winds blowing up to combined with temperatures into the 90s to create in the worst possible fire conditions." At one point swirling winds threatened to bring fire into densely populated urban areas.