Crews stop Riverside brush fire that had threatened homes

Firefighters aided by water-dropping aircraft halted a 16-acre brush fire threatening homes in Riverside’s Arlanza neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

The fire, which was spotted burning near Tyler Street and Jurupa Avenue at around noon, sent up a huge plume of smoke and brought at least two air tankers and two firefighter helicopters attempting to douse the blaze.

By the afternoon, firefighters had stopped the fire’s forward progress. Before that, the fire was “bumping into” a neighborhood, officials with the Riverside Fire Department said in a statement.

Smoke will continue to be a challenge throughout the night at firefighters work to mop-up mulch on the Arlanza incident. pic.twitter.com/sEAMrNTYlI

— City of Riverside Fire Department (@rivcafire) November 21, 2021

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Residents in a row of homes to the southwest of the fire location were told to evacuate, though it’s not clear if anyone left. The homes are on the north side of Valley Drive between Mitchell and Chadbourne avenues.

The only confirmed evacuations were of two horses, officials said.

No homes were damaged during the fire.

Strong winds were blowing in the region on Sunday, so fire officials said they would be working at the site of the fire overnight to fully put out the smoldering brush.

Officials said in the statement they believe the fire may have started after a vehicle crashed into some brush.

 

The smell of smoke across central OC is from the fire in Riverside. Close those windows.

— Santa Ana/OC Weather (@SNAweather) November 21, 2021

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Source: Orange County Register