JURUPA VALLEY — A brush fire that broke out Monday in the Santa Ana River bottom amid offshore winds that propelled it in the direction of homes burned roughly an acre before its progress was stopped.
The non-injury Clay fire was reported at 4:45 p.m. in the area of Clay Street and Van Buren Boulevard, along the boundary separating Jurupa Valley and Riverside, according to the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said multiple engine and ladder crews from the Cal Fire/Riverside and Riverside city fire departments were sent to the location, encountering flames fanned by weakening Santa Ana winds toward a residential area along Bradford Street.
A third alarm was declared as the fire moved closer to the Bradford homes a short time later, and the neighborhood was placed under an evacuation warning. The warning was for north of Jurupa Avenue, east of Crest Avenue and west of Van Buren Boulevard, fire information app Watch Duty reported.
The warning was later canceled as crews gained control of the fire.
No Cal Fire aircraft were summoned due to the onset of darkness.
As of 6 p.m., the fire was more than 50% contained, and firefighters were making progress establishing a line completely around the fire, officials said.
The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known, but the river bottom is rife with homeless encampments, and cooking, warming and debris fires are a year-round occurrence.
The temperature never exceeded 60 degrees Monday in the Riverside metropolitan area, with blustery north-northeasterly winds gusting to 25-30 mph most of the day.
The fire broke out among Red flag fire warning conditions, with high winds and low humidity expected.
SCNG staff writer Sierra van der Brug contributed to this story
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