Two small brush fires that broke out Wednesday in the Santa Ana River bottom between Jurupa Valley and Riverside blackened about an acre and prompted closure of a bridge as crews worked to contain the brushers.
The fires were reported about noon near the Market Street bridge linking Jurupa Valley and Riverside, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
Multiple engine crews from the county and city of Riverside were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a slow rate through heavy vegetation.
Each fire was estimated to be a half-acre in size.
At 12:30 p.m., sheriff’s deputies and Riverside police officers shut down the bridge as a public safety precaution, snarling traffic flowing north and south.
No homes or other structures were immediately threatened. However, officials from the county Emergency Management Department were summoned to assist with evacuating homeless people from an encampment in the immediate vicinity of the fires, according to reports from the scene.
A Cal Fire water-dropping helicopter and air tanker were requested to make runs on the brushers about 1 p.m.
There was no word on how the fires might have started. The river bottom is dotted with transient encampments, where cooking, warming and debris fires are common year-round.