A fire that erupted Thursday in the Santa Ana River bottom in Jurupa Valley scorched roughly six acres before crews reached it amid thick vegetation, relying on Cal Fire aircraft to slow its advance.
The non-injury “Beach Fire” was reported at 12:55 p.m. Thursday near the south banks of the dry channel, just off of Beach Street and Limonite Avenue, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said that multiple engine and hand crews from the county, Riverside Fire Department, Corona Fire Department and other agencies were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a slow rate to the northeast in heavy overgrowth.
Two Cal Fire air tankers and two water-dropping helicopters initiated runs on the brusher shortly before 2 p.m.
Firefighters were encountering challenges accessing the blaze due to the amount of vegetation and lack of footpaths.
No homes or other structures were immediately threatened, and no evacuation warnings or orders were imminent as of 2:30 p.m.
No road closures were in effect.
The river bottom is replete with transient encampments between Highgrove and Norco, and cooking, warming and debris fires are frequent year-round. The highest concentration of camps is between Jurupa Valley to the north and Riverside to the south.