Transient Encampment Blamed For 60 Freeway Fires, Traffic Jam

RIVERSIDE, CA — A cluster of spot fires that began in a transient encampment and burned alongside the Pomona (60) Freeway in Riverside Wednesday damaged at least six properties, displacing one resident, before the fires were stopped.

There were no reports of injuries.

The original fire was reported at about 2 p.m. along the retaining wall for the westbound 60, facing Stoddard Avenue, according to the Riverside Fire Department.

Engine and truck crews from the city and Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department were sent to the location and encountered flames in three to four spots that had branched out from the principal blaze behind houses and on both sides of the retaining wall, including the shoulder of the freeway.

Firefighters encountered palm trees in flames, as well as fire threatening residences in the 3700 block of Stoddard and the 3700 block of Shamrock Avenue, according to reports from the scene.

In at least one instance, a homeowner used a garden hose to try to keep the flames at bay.

One home sustained significant damage, displacing the elderly woman residing there with her two pets. Red Cross personnel were summoned to assist her with finding temporary alternate lodgings, according to officials.

The extent of damage to the other properties, a few of which may have been outbuildings and garages, was not immediately clear.

The fires were fully contained by 3:55 p.m. The amount of acreage burned was unconfirmed.

"The fire has been determined to be human-caused, originating on the freeway side near a homeless encampment," Battalion Chief Mike Allen said.

Fremont Elementary School on Orange Street was evacuated when flames from one of the fires reached the exterior walls of the campus cafeteria at about 2:20 p.m. Students and staff were safely transported to a nearby church for shelter, as firefighters quickly extinguished the flames.

A few students complained of shortness of breath and related complications and were treated by fire department paramedics called to the church. Allen said none of the youths required hospitalization.

Riverside Public Utilities implemented a public safety power shutoff after electricity transmission lines collapsed outside several properties, elevating fire threats. The shut-off impacted the area south of Fairmount Boulevard, north of Main Street, east of the freeway and west of Shamrock.

The number of properties affected was not provided.

The on-ramp from Main Street to the westbound 60 was shut down as a precaution, and two engine crews positioned themselves on the shoulder of the freeway to battle the flames, snarling westbound traffic. Police closed Stoddard between Main and Fairmount for public safety.