With active flames no longer an imminent threat, evacuation orders Thursday were downgraded to warnings for properties in the vicinity of a roughly 1,500-acre brush fire in the Santa Ana River bottom impacting Jurupa Valley and Riverside.
The “Bain fire” was reported at 11:22 a.m. Tuesday on the north side of the dry channel, in the area of Bain Street and Limonite Avenue, just north of the Hidden Valley Nature Center, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
As of Thursday afternoon, officials mapped the fire at 1,497 acres. However, with the brusher now 40% contained and slow-burning flames no longer in the vicinity of occupied homes, previous mandatory evacuation orders were reduced, and in most cases, locations that had been under only warnings were returned to “normal status,” according to the fire department.
The heavily used Van Buren Boulevard corridor connecting Riverside and Jurupa Valley, shut down at the height of the blaze, was partially reopened on Thursday afternoon.
The Western Riverside County Animal Shelter at Clay Street and Van Buren, which was evacuated Tuesday night, with all of the animals relocated to the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, was no longer under an evacuation order Thursday. But it was uncertain when the facility might reopen. The Department of Animal Services requested that residents able to temporarily foster a pet to free up space visit the San Jacinto shelter and pick one up.
There was no word on when full containment of the fire might be achieved.
Numerous engine and hand crews from the county, Riverside Fire Department, Corona Fire Department, Ontario Fire Department and other agencies were sent to the brusher when it erupted, encountering wind-driven flames moving through thick brush.
The flames spread toward groups of homes in the area of Arlington and Western avenues in Riverside, leading to the evacuation of dozens of residences around that intersection, including adjacent ones that intersect Sunnyvale Drive, Mountain High Drive, Western Avenue and Western Hills Drive.
Specific locations under warnings were depicted via a digital map at protect.genasys.com/search.
Three residents suffered smoke inhalation injuries, while another person suffered unspecified traumatic injuries during the height of the fire. All of the victims were transported to Riverside Community Hospital for treatment.
An evacuation reception center was established at the Skyview Event Center, 5257 Wineville Ave. in Jurupa Valley.
The cause of the brusher was under investigation.