A brush fire erupted Wednesday in the hills west of Temecula, scorching roughly five acres and threatening several homes as air and ground resources converged on the location.
The blaze was reported at 11:40 a.m. in the area of Sandia Creek Drive and De Anza Road, in the unincorporated community of De Luz, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said that multiple engine and hand crews from the county, as well as personnel from Cal Fire in San Diego County, were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a moderate rate through heavy vegetation.
Two Cal Fire air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter were summoned to make runs on the brusher and went to work laying retardant around two homes, one at 47600 Sandia Creek and the other at 47800 Sandia Creek, for protection, according to reports from the scene.
The area is lightly populated.
Firefighters were trudging through thick vegetation in an attempt to establish containment lines. There was zero containment as of 12:25 p.m.
Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers were requested to shut down Sandia Creek between El Prado Road to the north and De Anza Road to the south.
Evacuation warnings appeared imminent.
There was no immediate word on what might have triggered the fire.