Brush fire in Riverside County halted, evacuation orders lifted

Fire crews halted the spread of a Riverside County brush fire Sunday evening that had earlier prompted evacuations, officials said.

The Tenaja fire started at 11:48 a.m. near the Tenaja Truck Trail in the Cleveland National Forest, authorities said. It was stopped at 100 acres and was 25% contained.

“Firefighters will continue to work throughout the night, tomorrow and the next couple days to mop up and put the rest of the containment line around it,” said Nathan Judy, spokesperson for Cleveland National Forest.

The Tenaja Truck Trail will be closed to residents only while firefighters continue operations in the area, he said.

Evacuation orders for the area near the truck trail were lifted, along with an evacuation warning for El Cariso Village. Ortega Highway, previously closed in both directions, was reopened by 6:45 p.m.

There was no word on the cause of the fire.

It’s been a busy year for fires in California, especially compared with the last two relatively mild seasons. That comes after two consecutive wet winters stoked the growth of grasses and other vegetation, and a broiling hot summer dried all that plant material out.

As of Friday, 5,435 wildland fires had burned 830,461 acres, compared with a five-year average of 5,325 fires and 583,913 acres over the same period, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. One person has died, in the Mina fire near Covelo last month.

The state’s largest fire this year — and its fourth-largest on record — is the Park fire, which is now 78% contained after burning a 429,603-acre swath across Butte, Tehama, Shasta and Plumas counties. Firefighters were greatly assisted by recent rains that soaked the footprint, and no fire activity could be seen as a result, officials said Saturday.

Damage inspectors were able to survey areas that were previously inaccessible and learned that 709 structures were destroyed and 54 damaged.

Authorities say the fire began when Ronnie Dean Stout II, 54, pushed a burning car into a gully in Upper Bidwell Park in Chico on July 24. He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of arson in connection with the blaze.