A wildfire that erupted Friday on a hillside adjacent to a park just northeast of Murrieta scorched 72 acres before stalling within roadways.
The non-injury “Alamos Fire” was reported at 3:22 p.m. on the north side of Los Alamos Hills Sports Park, near the intersection of Los Alamos Road and Ruth Ellen Way, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
Multiple engine and hand crews from the county, Murrieta Fire & Rescue, Cal Fire-San Bernardino County and surrounding agencies were sent to the location and encountered flames burning up and over the hills fronting the park.
The flames were initially moving at a “dangerous rate of spread” toward Whitewood Road and the backside of Vista Murrieta High School, which was not in session Friday. Sheriff’s deputies and Murrieta police officers began shutting down Whitewood at 3:55 p.m. for public safety.
At the height of the brusher, five Cal Fire air tankers and two water-dropping helicopters were making runs on it. However, as of 4:50 p.m., all tankers had been released, with only the choppers making targeted drops on the blaze, which was stalled between Los Alamos and Whitewood, south of Clinton Keith Road, with little room to expand, according to reports from the scene.
The only damage reported was to electrical transmission lines near the high school.
There was no immediate word regarding how the fire might have started.