Gavilan Fire Expands To 338 Acres; Road Closures Change

GAVILAN HILLS, CA — The Gavilan Fire had expanded to 338 acres as of early Sunday afternoon, but remained 50 percent contained, according to authorities.

While the fire was only 250 acres Sunday morning, it had increased by nearly 90 acres within a matter of hours, authorities said. The remapping of the fire also resulted in road closure changes, with Idaleona Road between Panamint Lane and Gavilan Road closed, as well as Gavilan Road between Multiview and Pinon Drive. All evacuation warnings remained in place.

More than 180 firefighters were assigned to the blaze, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

The fire broke out Saturday afternoon off of Gavilan and Idaleona roads in Lake Matthews in Riverside County, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

An evacuation order was issued at around 5:20 p.m. for the area east of Gavilan Road; north of Santa Rosa Mine Road; West of Crescent Canyon Drive and Homestead Road, and South of Gustin Road, according to the Riverside County Fire Department. It was later expanded to the area east of Norbert Street and north of El Nido Road.

All orders were downgraded to warnings at 8 p.m. Saturday.

For updated sheets and a searchable evacuation map, click here.

At around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, firefighters began battling the blaze, which spread quickly from five to 30 acres, then 15o, and finally 250 by just before 9 p.m. It was only 25 percent contained by just before 9 p.m.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

The Gavilan Fire became the fourth fire that Riverside County firefighters were battling over the weekend.

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City News Service contributed to this report.