Alligators, the potentially lethal lizards, are on the move. 180 pounds of muscle and teeth, with a chomp so powerful, one bite can shatter bones.

It's alligator mating season and because they're motivated by finding a mate, they're turning up in odd places.

"We've found them in public bathrooms, called out to people's homes, in their pools, on their cars, sometimes we've found them in their cars," explained Lorenzo Velos with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The newest crop of FWC officers has to know how to deal with those situations. Wednesday was training day at Everglades Gator Farm in Homestead.

Rope techniques were taught, along with how to blind the gator, in order to capture it. Keeping your digits is key, so hand placement is very important.

The trapping portion can be easy, at least compared to actually carrying the gator, especially one that's not cooperating.

For a 10.5-foot alligator, it took four officers to wrestle it and six to carry the 400-pounds of combustible power.

One of the officers being trained was rookie Juan Blanco, who has already responded to five calls in the field. He's had classroom training, but he said hands-on training has taught him so much more.

"Better techniques on how to keep my fingers on my hands," Blanco said.

The alligators caught are either relocated in the Everglades or taken to a farm. It may look like the animal is being hurt, but this is actually very humane, according to experts.

The techniques taught focus on safety. In the end, officers want go home with limbs intact, and the gators get a new home.

A nuisance gator is a different story. A nuisance gator is not afraid of people and has to be euthanized; they cannot be brought to a gator farm.

However, that nuisance gator is still used for science research and taken to the FWC biology offices in Davie. They do everything from weigh it, use the meat and the hides. They also check to see what it's been eating, which can tell a lot about the eco-system.

Teachers with National School District are preparing for their second mediation session with district officials. They told NBC 7, if negotiations don’t improve, they are prepared to strike. The two parties are currently at an impasse.

“[We] haven't called for the strike yet, but we asked our members about impasse and it was overwhelming that they were ready to go down that road,” said Tamlyn McKean, one of the more than 100 teachers who rallied before a school board meeting Wednesday.

Teachers, parents and students held signs and cheered as drivers went by Rancho De La Nacion Elementary School Wednesday evening. They later filled the school board meeting room.

Their group, the National City Elementary Teachers Association (NCETA), said they are fighting for more tools and time to provide quality Common Core lessons to their students. They’re also fighting for more pay so good teachers don’t leave National City for higher paying teaching jobs elsewhere.

“Yes, there are definitely teachers leaving for that reason. Unfortunately, it’s ripping our hearts out,” said McKean.

School board member Alma Sarmiento said the district is in a difficult position as well.

“It hurts. It hurts to have to withhold money,” said Sarmiento. “We need to make sure the district is fiscally sound. We don’t want to take away from programs in the classroom, take away from the children.”

If the teachers strike, Sarmiento said it would be unfortunate.

"I would be sad if that happened because they don’t need to. I would say talk to their legislators. It’s money that comes from the state or withheld from the state that really hurts us,”  Sarmiento said.

The second mediation between NCETA and district officials is scheduled for Friday. 

It was the ninth time the Padres faced the Giants this season, and for the ninth time the Friars fell to San Francisco. The National League West division leaders swept the Friars in the series finale at AT&T Park Wednesday afternoon.

The Padres are in last place in the NL West after dropping three games in a row and seven of the last nine. The pitching rotation has done well on the mound in recent outings, but they haven’t seen the necessary run support. James Shields was on the hill today against former Padres James Peavy. Shields is now 2-6 and holds an ERA of 3.07. He surrendered two runs and five hits in his six innings of work.

San Francisco got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Kelby Tomlinson blooped a single into right field just out of second baseman Alexi Amarista's reach. Brandon Crawford scored on that one and the Giants took the 1-0 lead.

The Giants would stay ahead of the Friars for most of the game but in the seventh inning Alexei Ramirez came up to bat with one man on base and sent one up to right field. That brought in Brett Wallace to score and the Padres shortened the Giants lead to one run.

At the top of the eighth inning the tide started to change for the Padres. The Giants were up 3-1 when Yangervis Solarte knocked a two run homer, his first home run of the season, and it cleared the wall in left center field to tie the game at 3-3.

The tie would hold and take the game into extra innings but in the bottom of the 10th a walk-off single by Giants slugger Brandon Crawford gave San Francisco the 4-3 victory. The Padres are now 0-9 against the Giants and hold an overall 19-28 record this season. The Padres have a much needed day off on Thursday before they continue their road trip to face the Arizona Diamond backs in a three game series at Chase Field.

Donald Trump told Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night that he's used "aliases" throughout his career in real estate because "otherwise, they find out it's you, and they charge you more money."

"Over the years, I've used aliases," especially when doing real estate deals, Trump acknowledged in an interview on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

"I would never want to use my name, because you had to pay more money for the land," he said. "If you try to buy land, you use different names."

It was an unusual admission from Trump, NBC News reported, who made millions on often-risky real estate deals throughout the 1980s and '90s. He downplayed the tactic, telling Kimmel: "Many people in the real estate business do that."

Most suicide attempts in the American Armed forces come from those who haven't been deployed, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association's JAMA Psychiatry.

The period of highest risk was just two months after starting military service, according to the study of more than 163,000 men and women in the Army from 2004 through 2009. It found that 61 percent of those who tried to take their own lives had not yet been deployed.

It's not precisely clear why suicide attempts — as opposed to completed suicides — go up at these times. Other research shows the risk for a completed suicide has little to do with whether someone has been in actual combat.

"They are transitioning out of training and into regular service," Dr. Robert Ursano of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, who helped lead the study, told NBC News.

Federal agents seized cases of fake perfume – some of which contained ingredients linked to cancer and organ damage – and made five arrests in a counterfeiting bust Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Homeland Security agents made the bust and hauled the faux fragrances out at a news conference on Lafayette Street in lower Manhattan.

They said Wednesday’s seizures were the latest in a string of such busts in New York City that has netted more than three million counterfeit items over the last three years. In total, the real versions of those fake products could fetch $94 million at stores. 

Authorities said that more arrests could be coming in the case, which they say swindles companies out of profits and potentially harm customers.

Investigators say perfumes were replicated by Chinese manufacturers using cheaper materials. They were shipped to New Jersey and then Queens, where they were labeled and packaged to look legitimate.

Authorities say wholesalers bought the fragrances for a fraction of the cost of the real brands and sold them to out-of-state retailers.

Authorities said that counterfeit colognes and perfumes come in packaging that looks authentic, but usually burn on contact and can contain various carcinogens. In at least one prior instance, a fake perfume contained horse urine.

The five suspects were released on bond after appearing in a Manhattan federal court Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

A 19-year-old leaped into action when a man fell onto the subway tracks as a train was approaching in lower Manhattan, jumping down to move him out of the way before barely escaping the oncoming train. 

Police said a man in his 30s was waiting for the 6 train at Canal and Lafayette streets at around 8 p.m. Wednesday when he apparently became ill and began staggering, then fell.

"All of a sudden, before I knew it, he fell down on the track. He was sort of splayed across the track in the middle and wasn't moving," 19-year-old Nicholas Buxton told NBC 4 partner station Telemundo-47.

Buxton said he saw a train approaching and jumped onto the tracks to move the man who had fallen.

"I went down immediately. He was too heavy to move, and I yelled for help because by that point, I could see the train," he said.

Another man on the platform, Luis Figueroa, rushed over and told Buxton, "You gotta get him up, the train's coming." 

"I tried to lift him up again, I couldn't. So I instinctively pushed him under the track, under the platform, I saw there was a space there," said Buxton.

By then, the train was heading into the station and Figueroa began to grab at Buxton to hoist him back up.

"Luis said, 'Dude, you gotta get up, the train's about to arrive,' and he pulled me up. I was still pushing [the man] under, and Luis was like, 'You gotta go now,' and the train was already at the beginning of the platform," said Buxton. 

Figueroa said Buxton made it back onto the platform with moments to spare.

"He didn't know the train was there, so I was pulling him up. If I didn't pull him, the train hit him," he recalled.

The man on the tracks was taken to Bellevue Hospital with a broken arm, according to the FDNY. It's not clear why he fell.

San Diego Police Department (SDPD) has released a sketch of a suspect wanted for an attempted kidnapping of a 15-year old girl in San Ysidro last week.

The incident happened Friday, May 20th around 5:15 p.m. at the intersection of Mt. Carmel Drive and Padre Tullio Drive, just east of Interstate 805.

SDPD says the victim noticed the driver in a red sedan closely following her as she was walking westbound on Mt. Carmel Drive.

She sped up and police say the driver also drove faster to keep up with her.

He then allegedly drove forward and blocked the intersection with his car to stop the victim. Then, he got out of the car, grabbed the victim by her arm and told her to get into his car.

Police say the victim pulled her arm away and escaped.

The suspect drove off southbound on Alaquinas Drive.

Police say the suspect is described to be around five feet six inches, about 35 to 40 years old, brown hair, brown eyes and walk with a limp.

His vehicle was described as a compact, four-door red sedan with a loud muffler.

Anyone with information is asked to call SDPD or Crime Stoppers at (888)580-8477.

You are experiencing sweet satisfaction knowing that your taxes were filed on time. That is, until you realize that you took a deduction when you did not qualify for it, or forgot to claim an important tax credit that could save you hundreds of dollars.

There is no need to panic — simply amend your tax return in a timely matter using IRS Form 1040X. This form is used to make corrections in income, deductions or credits, number of exemptions, filing status, or health care coverage (insurance) status per the Affordable Care Act. It can also be used to capture issues from up to three years prior, such as claiming a retroactive refundable credit. Other situations, such as receiving a corrected Form 1095-A from the Health Insurance Marketplace, may need to be captured on a Form 1040X depending on the effect it has on your tax return (in other words, whether or not the change disqualified you from taking a tax credit that you claimed on your initial return).

Form 1040X should not be used for items such as math errors or missing forms. The IRS will correct math errors and send you a request if any missing form is needed to process your return. 1040X also does not apply to requesting refunds of penalties or interest, or adding to taxes that you have already paid. In that case, Form 843, "Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement," applies. If you are unsure about when to use 1040X, look over the instructions for details.

The form is quite simple. It contains a column for original amounts, a column for amended amounts, check boxes to verify status, and a section for you to write in an explanation of the changes.

Aren't you just asking for an audit if you file an amended claim? Folklore says that you are, but reality -- and the IRS -- says otherwise. The IRS uses a complex computer formula known as the Discriminate Inventory Function that compares your items to the returns of similar taxpayers to look for large-scale outliers. Even then, an IRS agent reviews the return before deciding whether an audit is in order.

The fact that you amended a report does not increase your chances of an audit at all. However, the content of your amendment can increase the chances. For example, if you amend your return to show a massive change in income without a reasonable explanation as to why, you are more likely to be audited.

When making your correction, consider the following IRS tips:

• Only file Form 1040X after you have filed your initial return, and only file a 1040X for an amended refund amount after you have received the refund. Multiple returns in the system at the same time can create confusion.
• Form 1040X must be filed using a paper return, even if your initial return was e-filed. Make sure that you look over the instructions to find the correct mailing address for your area.
• Since you have three years from the date of your original filing to apply a Form 1040X, it is important to note on the form which year's taxes are being corrected. Otherwise, the IRS may apply the corrections to the wrong year. Review the instructions for exceptions to the three-year limit and how that limit is defined (typically from the filing deadline or the actual filing date, whichever is later).

Remember that amending your federal taxes could have ramifications on your state taxes. Check your state tax laws for the potential effects.

The IRS typically processes a 1040X in eight to twelve weeks, but it could take up to 16 weeks in some cases. You can track the progress using the "Where's My Amended Return" application on the IRS website. Have your Taxpayer ID number (social security number for most filers), your zip code, andf your date of birth ready for verification purposes.

Do not let fear of the IRS stop you from correcting your return. Correct your return at the earliest opportunity — and if you need professional help in doing so, do not be afraid to ask. It is better to correct a problem now than to put it off hoping the IRS does not notice the issue. How likely is that to happen? If your amendment means paying the IRS more, it’s better to give them some now than owe a whole lot more in penalties and interest later.

This article was provided by our partners at moneytips.com.
Taxpayer Bill Of Rights
IRS Audits Fall to 11-Year Low
What To Do If You Are Audited

President Barack Obama said world leaders are "rattled" by Donald Trump and have a good reason to feel that way, NBC News reported. 

Speaking at a news conference while at the G7 meeting in Japan, Obama said the American presidential election is being "very" closely watched abroad. He told reporters that "it's fair to say" world leaders are "surprised" Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee.

"They are not sure how seriously to take some of this pronouncements but they're rattled by him — and for good reason, because a lot of the proposals that he's made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude," Obama added.

The president also suggested Trump's controversial proposals were more about "getting tweets and headlines" than "actually thinking through" what's needed to keep America safe or the "world on an even keel."

A child bitten by a snake in Escondido one week ago has been released from the hospital and is now recovering at home.

The 8-year-old boy was airlifted to Rady Children's Hospital on May 19 after he was bitten by a snake, the Escondido Police Department confirmed.

According to Cal Fire, the boy's parents called 911 around 7:35 p.m. to report he had been bitten on the left foot by a snake. The reported location was a church at the intersection of Lake Wohlford Road and Valley Center road in Escondido.

Cal Fire says they believe the reported location is not where the boy was bitten but rather where the parents took the boy after the incident.

A Cal Fire engine stationed by the church reported the incident to the Escondido Fire Department and the child was picked up by an ambulance.

Escondido Fire Department airlifted the boy to the hospital.

A Rady Children's Hospital spokesperson told NBC 7 the boy was in a critical but stable condition last week. He has now returned home and is expected to make a full recovery.

A phony Facebook account claiming to belong to slain North Texas fitness instructor Missy Bevers sent friend requests to Bevers' family and friends after her death, investigators said.

Bevers, 45, was found dead April 19 inside Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, where she had planned to host an exercise camp. Surveillance video captured a person wearing what appeared to be tactical gear inside the church just before the mother of three arrived.

Investigators hoped Bevers' Facebook account would help them identify the person seen on surveillance footage, believed to be between 5-foot-2 and 5-foot-7. Police have not determined whether that person is a man or woman.

After her death, a second account was created using Bevers' name and image, police said. The fake account sent friend requests to people Bevers knew, including students of her Camp Gladiator fitness class and her mother-in-law, police told NBC News.

Police said they have been trying to find the person responsible for the account, which has since been taken down.

"[The] best we can tell so far, the profile is gone, which means a dead end for us," Midlothian Assistant Police Chief Kevin Johnson told NBC News.

Investigators said the account may have been a scam, glitch or even a joke.

Police continue to investigate the incident and ask the public for help. A $10,000 reward has been offered by Oak Dairy Farms for information resulting in an arrest.

Two months after a Southern California barber cited scripture as a reason for denying a haircut to a transgender Army veteran, Kendall Oliver has filed suit, alleging a violation of civil rights.

Oliver, an Army reserve sergeant who served in Afghanistan, filed a lawsuit against The Barbershop in Rancho Cucamonga, citing an incident last March when the shop refused to cut Oliver's hair.

"What I'm looking for today is to make sure this never happens again to someone else," said Oliver, who was born female but identifies "more as male."

Owner Richard Hernandez said in March that his Christian religious beliefs forbid him from cutting a woman's hair.

"It is a shame for a man to have long hair. But if a woman has long hair, it is her glory," Hernandez told NBC4's Mekahlo Medina in March, paraphrasing scripture, the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, 11:15.

"I don't want to be one who's taking away from her glory," Hernandez said.

Oliver's attorney contends the central issue is equal rights.

"Freedom of religion is important and it's protected," said attorney Peter Renn of Lambda Legal, which works on behalf of LBGT rights. "What it doesn't do is give anyone the right to cause harm to someone else, or for one person to inflict their religious beliefs on someone else." 

The Barbershop declined comment on the lawsuit Wednesday. An employee said the owner was out of town.

"The odds of the barber being able to implement this policy are extremely low," said Michael Helfand, a legal scholar not involved in the case. An associate professor at Pepperdine University School of Law, Helfand is an expert on religious law and religious liberty.

Unless the owner operated The Barbershop as a private club, it would be considered a public accommodation, and as such cannot discriminate on the basis of sex under California law, Helfand said.

The calculus likely would be different in other states that have enacted what are known as religious freedom laws, modeled after the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, according to Helfand.

"In those states, he might have a fighting chance. In those states, a law that prohibited him from implementing his religious beliefs in his commercial enterprise -- such a law might be deemed to actually substantially burden his religion, and therefore he'd be protected," Helfand said. "But California doesn't have such a law. California only prohibits laws from discriminating against religion. As a result, anti-discrimination laws don't discriminate against religion, they just implement neutral laws against everybody. As a result, he's unlikely to be successful in defending this suit." 

Helfand personally favors state laws that enable courts to consider religious burden in complying with a law.

"In a case like this, though -- again -- to be clear, it's very likely that the public policy is extremely strong," he said. "But cases like this do raise the question as to whether or not California law should reconsider the fact that it does not have any kind of law in place that allows you to balance religion against other public policy interests."

Oliver said he felt humiliated by the shop's refusal to treat him as other customers. In the view of Oliver's attorney, this case is about more than a haircut denied.

"No business has the right to inflict moral judgment," said Renn.

Mississippi plans to join 11 other states that filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block the Obama administration's transgender bathroom policy at public schools, Gov. Phil Bryant said Thursday, NBC News reported.

"Our office has talked to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office and I intend, as soon as possible, to join the lawsuit against this latest example of federal overreach," Bryant, a Republican, said in a Facebook post.

Texas is leading the lawsuit. Governors from Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Utah have jumped on board.

The Department of Education ordered all of the nation's public schools to honor transgender students' bathroom of choice.

A construction site in Boston has led to the discovery of a nearly 200-year-old shipwreck.

The remains of a wooden vessel from the mid- to late-19th century were discovered Wednesday by construction crews on Seaport Boulevard. They are at least 50 feet long.

"It's in pretty good shape considering it's been somehow avoiding construction for the past couple of weeks," said Joe Bagley, a city archaeologist. 

"This is actually highly unusual for Boston," said Vic Mastrone, an underwater archaeologist. "We know a lot of vessels were wrecked and abandoned and this is an abandoned vessel. But typically you don't find them in the fill tidelands. They're usually gone or they're not even noticed." 

Archeologists said the ship is in good condition because it has been buried in clay, which helped preserve it. They believe the ship may have been carrying lime and that it burned before it sank.

An archaeology team will be on the site for a few days studying the location, excavating, and taking samples and pictures. They might even take a 3D scan, but the wreck won't be removed. 

New York-based construction company Skanska USA is meeting with city officials to discuss the discovery.

Baylor University intends to dismiss head football coach Art Briles, university president Ken Starr will transition from president to chancellor, and athletic director Ian McCaw is being put on probation, the school's board of regents said on Thursday. 

The regents said Briles was "suspended with the intent to terminate" and announced the other changes in a statement released shortly after 11 a.m.

The moves come after multiple reports of sexual assault incidents involving Baylor players. Briles and Starr have faced criticism about possibly ignoring the incidents.

“We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus," board of regents chairman Richard Willis said in the statement. “The depth to which these acts occurred shocked and outraged us. Our students and their families deserve more.”

Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Bennett will reportedly be named the interim head coach. The remainder of the Baylor football coaching staff is expected to keep their jobs.

Briles has been the head coach at Baylor since 2008, leading the Bears to a 65-37 record and two conference championships. He spent five seasons as the head coach at the University of Houston and nearly two decades coaching at Texas high schools.

Online: Baylor University Board of Regents Announces Leadership Changes

It made her feel like a Princess.

That’s how Candace Balbarais describes the wedding dress she planned to wear in two weeks. Now, she’s not sure if she’ll ever put that dress on again.

“I feel I have anxiety inside. I feel scared, too. What if they’d come inside?” she said.

On Wednesday morning, Balbarais says she walked out of her home in La Jolla to take her son to pre-school, but found her 2004 Gold Mercedes Benz was gone, with her wedding dress inside. Someone had also broken into the family’s SUV. 

Balbarais had left the dress in the car because she’d been meaning to take in to get altered before the June 12th wedding, leaving her to question now why she didn’t do it sooner. 

“If I’d just done this, if I’d just done that, then my dress would still be here.” 

Balbarais filed a police report, and says officers told her there’s an 80% recovery rate for stolen cars in San Diego, but it’s not the car she’s most concerned about. The dress maker told her there’s not enough time to order a new one. 

“I can’t even think about having to buy another one right now,” she said. “I almost don’t feel bad about my car, it’s just, I really want my wedding dress.” 

So, she’s hoping someone sees something or the person who stole the dress hears her plea. 

“Can you please return my stuff. Can you please return my wedding dress.” 

The stolen car is a 2004 Gold Mercedes Benz with tan interior and a child’s car seat inside.

Anyone with any information is asked to call San Diego Police.

A North County community is experiencing a dramatic increase in car break-ins.

Carlsbad Police Department say in 2015, car burglaries were up almost 50 percent from the year before.

And that trend continues in 2016.

Just last week, six educators at the Carlsbad Country Day School had personal items stolen from their vehicles all in the same day.

As bad as that sounds, it is only a snapshot of the plague of property crimes crawling across Carlsbad.

Parked cars around most trailheads or beach parking areas have electronics in the front seat, workout bags, purses, sun glasses and open windows.

“If we leave the car unlocked and there are items in the car, they will steal them, even if it's a photo album,” victim Melissa Reed said.

A mother of seven, Melissa Reed is a statistic in Carlsbad's car break-in crime wave.

She has been victimized four times in the last two years. In March, a second navigation system was stolen from her car parked in the driveway. Thieves cracked the windshield in the process. 

“We lock the cars now. We learned our lesson. Either lock up or your stuff in it gets taken,” Reed said.

Reed's Seaside Estates' neighborhood is a common target.

In the last year, Danielle Kroll had a 400 dollar stroller and sleeve of kids video stolen from her car left unlocked.

“I was mad and sad. I was sad that my favorite stroller that I just gotten for Christmas was gone and mad somebody was cruising in my neighborhood and touching my stuff,” Kroll said.

Police have responded with signs at the beach parking areas warning visitors to lock their cars and doing spot checks on neighborhoods that appear vulnerable.

“We've posted things on Facebook and Twitter and all over the place, just trying to remind people to remove the property from their vehicles,” Carlsbad Police Department spokesperson, Jodee Sasway said.

The strategy has made a dent.

More stolen items have been recovered year to year and arrests are up 15 percent since 2015. 

“I lock the car every single night and I'm conscious about leaving sunglasses or anything out,” Kroll said.

Don't wait to be a victim. Keep what you need in your car out of sight, and always lock your doors.

Prevention is the best medicine.

Police say car thieves work in teams and migrate seasonally.

Their summers are spent at the beach and activity areas such as hiking and bike trails. Later in the year they work in residential areas.

Don't assume you're any safer parked in your own driveway than a crowded beach.

Multiple students and staffers fell ill with a stomach virus at Sage Canyon School in Carmel Valley, prompting officials to clear the classrooms on Wednesday morning.

Sage Canyon’s principal, William Cameron, sent out a note to parents alerting them of the apparent stomach virus outbreak at the school.

Students were dismissed from classrooms at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, as custodians sanitized each room, the principal said.

In addition, a school open house set for Thursday night has been postponed until May 31.

One parent told NBC 7, his son, a kindergartner, had been vomiting the entire night before Wednesday and did not go to school today.

Another mom said she had heard from another parent about the illness.

"One of my friends who has a daughter in 5th grade, she mentioned to me, yes, my daughter yesterday was very sick. And apparently, a few others from her class," said parent Raquel Mussal.

Del Mar Union School District hasn't released how many students and staff were affected by the virus.

But students and parents have noted it appears to be mostly 5th graders, including half of one class.

Anoter parent NBC 7 spoke to said she's concerned and wants to know where the illness orginated from.

The school has reached out to the state’s Department of Health Services, which recommends all children with symptoms stay home from school until they’re free of symptoms for 48 hours.

San Diego Fire-Rescue crews battled a stubborn fire Thursday in a riverbed along the city's boundary with Chula Vista.

No one was injured in the fire that was estimated to be burning an area as large as a football field near Fourth Avenue and Beyer Way.

The fire sparked at 1:00 a.m. in an area described as a marsh. Conditions were so muddy firefighters couldn’t access it, according to an SDFD spokesperson

Crews watched the fire to make sure it didn't spread and waited for the department's fire helicopter to arrive.

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story.