A brush fire erupted Friday near the Western Riverside County Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley, burning an acre and threatening the shelter as crews deployed to protect the property.
The blaze was reported at 4:25 p.m. in the area of Clay Street and Van Buren Boulevard, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said that multiple engine crews from the county and city of Riverside Fire Department were sent to the location, encountering flames moving at a slow rate in heavy brush along the north side of the Santa Ana River bottom, within a couple of hundred yards of barns and other structures associated with the shelter.
Crews established defensive positions to prevent the flames from spreading toward the animal campus and requested a Cal Fire helicopter to make runs on the brusher, according to officials at the scene.
As of 4:50 p.m., firefighters were making progress encircling the blaze, though the forward rate had not been stopped.
There was no immediate word on how the fire might have started.