Downed Power Lines Ignite Backyard Blazes In Riverside

NORCO, CA — A fire that erupted Monday in the backyard of a Riverside house spread to another yard amid intense Santa Ana winds, consuming a storage shed and damaging a car before crews got it under control.

The non-injury blaze was reported at 4:20 a.m. between Robinson and Crest avenues in the La Sierra Hills neighborhood adjacent to the Norco city limits, according to the Riverside Fire Department.

Battalion Chief Pat Hopkins said seven engine crews -- numbering about two dozen personnel -- were sent to the location and encountered flames raging in the yard of a home in the 5600 block of Crest.

Winds pushed the blaze into the yard of a residence on Robinson, quickly burning down the shed and damaging a parked vehicle, Hopkins said.

Firefighters contained the fire at a quarter-acre just before 5 a.m.

"The source of the fire was determined to be a power line that came into contact with a tree branch," Hopkins said.

Winds were gusting in excess of 25 mph at the time.

Riverside Public Utilities technicians secured the line and initiated repairs at the site.

The estimated damage stemming from the blaze was $30,000.