The wildfire burning in Orange and Riverside counties is 78 percent contained Thursday after scorching 22,986 acres.
Firefighters reported progress on containment lines around the Holy Fire burning in the Cleveland National Forest, in particular holding and strengthening the containment line around Santiago Peak in Orange County. Firefighters also attacked active flames in the Bell Canyon area of Orange County.
Holy Jim and Trabuco canyons in Orange County remain closed within the burn area.
Nearly 1,200 firefighters worked to build containment lines from the point of origin in Holy Jim Canyon toward the north and east. Fire crews looked for places to anchor and fight the flames while additional resources built contingency lines, according to a statement from the U.S. Forest Service.
In Riverside County, a voluntary evacuation order for residents of the Trilogy community in Temescal Valley, south of Corona, was lifted Wednesday.
All Forest Service facilities in the Highway 74 corridor remain closed, including Blue Jay, El Cariso and Falcon campgrounds in Riverside County.
Firefighters worked to knock down hot spots along the northern edge of the fire in Anderson Canyon in Riverside County.
Estimated containment of the fire is August 21.
School districts affected by the fire delayed their first days of classes until next week. The Lake Elsinore Unified School District in Riverside County will go back on Aug. 20. Schools in the Corona-Norco Unified School District located south of the 91 Freeway and east of Border Avenue in Corona also pushed back the first day of school until next Monday.
The city of Corona announced a day camp to help working parents of students this week. It will be open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Fees are $110 for residents and $140 for non-residents, with priority for parents of students at fire-affected schools.
The fire destroyed 18 homes, 12 in Orange County and six in Riverside County, since it erupted at 1:15 p.m. Aug. 6 near Holy Jim Canyon and Trabuco Creek roads, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito said. The fire dramatically increased in size near the Horsethief Canyon area on Aug. 8, then jumped the North Main Divide dirt road, burning into the Lake Elsinore area of Riverside County, Bommarito said.
Bommarito noted that the area probably hasn’t burned since the early 1980s.
The man accused of starting the fire, 51-year-old Forrest Gordon Clark, remained jailed in Santa Ana in lieu of $1 million bail. He labeled the arson charges against him a “lie” and insisted he was being threatened by gang members.
Clark was charged with aggravated arson damaging at least five inhabited structures, arson of inhabited property, arson of forest and criminal threats, all felonies, as well as two misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest.
His arraignment was delayed until Friday, and he could face 10 years to life in prison.