Dozens of military families were evacuated early Thursday after a Cessna 550 jet crashed into their neighborhood, damaging homes and vehicles.
At least three people on the privately owned jet were killed, according to the Associated Press. Six were on board.
At least two homes were destroyed, the Navy said, and several more damaged. Images from the scene show several vehicles burned.
Families were initially evacuated from the vicinity of the crash site to Miller Elementary School, where community organizations gathered to assist them.
Capt. Bob Heely, the commanding officer of Naval Base San Diego, said the service is working to support the families.
"Primarily our job is to get them back into their homes as soon as possible and we're working with Liberty Military Housing, who oversees this complex, to do just that," he said.
Liberty Military Housing is a public-private housing provider. The Murphy Canyon military housing area is the largest in the country, the Navy said. Military families from various military branches live there.
Jay Delarosa, a spokesperson for Navy Region Southwest, said up to 40 military families were temporarily displaced.
"Initially we were thinking that that those families would be displaced for a minimum of 24 hours, but we're really shooting to move a little faster," he told KPBS Thursday afternoon. "And that really depends on the civil authorities because they have jurisdiction, so they have to determine if the location is safe for the families to go back to their homes."
He said the Navy is working with the two military families from the destroyed units to find new permanent housing.
Monica Moon is the director of the Military Family Resource Center for SAY San Diego, a nonprofit that runs a community center less than a half mile from the crash site.
"The community (is) coming together and really rallying to support the the families that were affected," she said.
She's been talking with affected families.
"Some of them are in shock," she said. "Some of them are really tired because the accident happened very early in the morning ... we just have a variety of different people in different stages and processing differently."
SAY San Diego is giving families $100-$150 gift cards to help replace essential items.
Other groups, such as the American Red Cross and the Armed Services YMCA were also on-site, Moon said.
Nonprofit Support the Enlisted Project said in a statement that it's collecting donations for families.
SAY San Diego said donations to its Bridge Fund will be used to provide gift cards.
