RV Fire Spreads to 2,000 Acres

A recreational vehicle burst into flames while traveling on California 371 in Riverside County and sparked a brush fire Sunday that charred 2,000 acres of vegetation and destroyed two mobile homes, six outbuildings and 11 vehicles.

The Riverside County Fire Department deployed more than 500 firefighters to the scene, along with airplanes and helicopters dumping water and retardant.

By nightfall, officials claimed 40% containment of the fire, which started at 1:08 p.m. and burned west of Lake Riverside and about 10 miles north of the San Diego County border, east of Temecula. Full containment is expected by 6 tonight.

“If the good weather holds, we’ll have a good handle on it,” Fire Capt. Rick Vogt said. “Early on, the fire was raging. The momentum changed, though, as the temperatures dropped and the humidity increased toward nightfall.”

He said no injuries have been reported in the area, near Foolish Pleasure Road.

As a precaution, firefighters issued voluntary evacuation instructions to residents in about 75 homes near Wilson Valley Road and California 371, Vogt said.

Additionally, firefighters have established a perimeter to protect 400 mobile homes, where the fire crept within half a mile Sunday night.

The burning recreational vehicle ignited vegetation along the highway that quickly burned along rolling hills and rugged terrain covered in grass and brush, in an area where homes are scattered and the roads are unpaved.

The firefighters’ concern was protecting hundreds of homes in Lake Riverside as the flames pushed an estimated one mile near the town.