'This Could Be A Long Summer' Of Brush Fires In Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Most of the wildfires that erupted at the end of last week in Riverside County are contained or close to it, but it's probable that others will take their place in the coming days and weeks, officials told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

"Everybody has been working hard to get these fires down," county Fire Chief Bill Weiser told the board during a summary of wildfire operations. "We've had mutual aid, which has really helped us in the firefights."

According to Weiser, the largest of the four brush fires that erupted on Friday and Saturday, the Rabbit Fire, is nearly 50% contained at 8,283 acres.

The blaze, which Weiser said began with a vehicle fire near the intersection of Jack Rabbit Trail and Gilman Springs Road in the Lakeview area, started at about 3:30 p.m. Friday and forced road closures and mandatory evacuations in a lightly populated area between Gilman Springs and Highway 79.

The highway was partially closed from Friday night to Tuesday morning because of the fire threat, which has since been mitigated. Most of the impacted area is now under an evacuation warning only. Full containment of the Rabbit Fire is expected by Friday.

Weiser said the only civilian injury associated with the brush fires involved the motorist whose car caught fire, starting the Rabbit Fire. That person was "severely burned," the chief said, and remains hospitalized. The victim's identity has not been released.

The Reche Fire was the first in the series and broke out at about 1 p.m. Friday in the area of Reche Canyon Road and High Country Drive, just north of Moreno Valley. Weiser confirmed one outbuilding was destroyed by the blaze, which consumed 437 acres and was contained by the time of his appearance before the board.

The Highland Fire erupted on the southern edge of Beaumont, at Highland Springs and Breckenridge avenues, at about 3 p.m. Friday and prompted an immediate evacuation order for a residential subdivision. However, the brusher was completely contained by Sunday at 105 acres.

The Gavilan Fire began at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the area of Gavilan and Idaleona roads in Gavilan Hills, south of Lake Mathews. Weiser told the board the blaze has scorched 338 acres and was close to full containment Tuesday.

"Fire chiefs from other agencies have been asking, `What can we do to help?"' Weiser said. "We have those kinds of relationships."

County Emergency Management Department Director Bruce Barton told the board that the silver lining in the wildfire series has been that none of the brushers impacted "massive population centers." But he cautioned that circumstances could change anytime.

"This could be a long summer," Barton said. "There's no better time to be prepared than now. We are going to have more fires, more power outages and public safety power shutoffs."

He said that the next seven or eight days, with the heat wave intensifying throughout the region, could be telling.

"Now is the time to cut that grass (to create protective space around properties)," the EMD director said.

Barton suggested that the region's summer monsoon season "could be later" this year, bringing with it a host of other problems, from serious flooding to lightning strike fires and damaged roads, as has been the case in the past.

Information on wildfire and storm preparedness is available at https://rivcoready.org/.