Two brush fires that broke out Wednesday in the Santa Ana River bottom between Jurupa Valley and Riverside together scorched less than an acre before crews stopped them.
The non-injury blazes were reported at 3:30 p.m. in the area of Clay Street and Van Buren Boulevard — one fire on the Jurupa Valley side, and the other just inside Riverside’s city limits, about a quarter-acre apart, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
Engine crews from both the city and county were sent to the locations and encountered flames moving through heavy vegetation at slow rates.
No homes or other structures were threatened, and Cal Fire aircraft were not requested.
Firefighters from the city and county combined resources and contained the blaze in Riverside within a half-hour, while the forward rate of spread for the spot fire in Jurupa Valley was halted at 4:20 p.m., according to reports from the scene.
There was no immediate word regarding what might have triggered the fires. Homeless encampments are strewn throughout the river bottom, and debris, cooking and warming fires are common year-round.