Four spot fires that may have been intentionally ignited in a former Boy Scout camp along the Santa Ana River bottom in Riverside Friday were quickly contained, but no suspects were immediately identified.
The first blaze was reported shortly before 11 a.m. in the area of Mission Boulevard and Crestmore Road, and the second, third and fourth fires erupted less than 30 minutes later just north of that location, according to the Riverside Fire Department.
Multiple city crews, as well as crews from the Riverside County Fire Department, were sent to the area and encountered a debris pile in flames in one spot, and vegetation burning in the other three spots, according to officials at the scene.
County fire crews knocked down the debris fire within 20 minutes, while city fire personnel contended with the other fires, which were completely contained by 11:45 a.m.
The total acreage burned was not immediately known, but it did not amount to an acre.
All of the fires were inside Riverside city limits.
No injuries or structural damage was reported.
A Riverside Fire Department battalion chief at the scene identified arson as the most likely cause of one or more of the fires. He requested assistance from a Riverside police helicopter crew to scour the area for potential suspects, but the chopper wasn’t available.
The river bottom is a magnet for transients, and homeless encampments are strewn throughout the area. Cooking, warming and debris fires are a frequent problem along the channel.