Workers constructing a warehouse on the south end of Riverside inadvertently ignited an acre-wide vegetation fire Tuesday when the cutting tools they were using sent sparks flying into dry brush.
The non-injury blaze was reported just before noon in the 1300 block of East Alessandro Boulevard, near Vista Grand Drive, along the southern boundary of the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park, according to the Riverside Fire Department.
Battalion Chief Bruce Vanderhorst said five engine crews and a truck company, numbering nearly two dozen personnel, were sent to the location and encountered flames burning in front of a warehouse in the early stages of construction.
“Workers (were) attempting to extinguish the fire with a water truck,” Vanderhorst said. “Firefighters established a perimeter control line and (stopped) the fire. The total acreage was mapped at 1.2 acres.”
The blaze was declared completely under control at 2 p.m.
Arson investigators were called to the location to interview construction workers and ascertain exactly how the blaze started. Vanderhorst said the investigative team “determined the cause of the fire was the workers cutting rebar with a rotary saw next to dry brush.”
“It was accidental in nature,” he said.
Citations were issued to the foreperson due to the lack of safety precautions that resulted in the fire, according to Vanderhorst.