Firefighters completed mopping up Monday at the site of a small blaze that started in a homeless encampment on the edge of a nature preserve.
The non-injury “Alessandro Fire” was reported just before 11 p.m. Sunday in the area of East Alessandro and Sycamore Canyon boulevards, on the southeast perimeter of Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park, according to the Riverside Fire Department.
Battalion Chief Mike Allen said five engine crews, numbering 20 personnel, were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a slow rate from a homeless encampment into the park amid light Santa Ana winds.
“Crews made a quick attack on the fire, and it was contained,” Allen said, adding that roughly a quarter acre was scorched, but no structures were damaged.
The blaze was completely under control by midnight.
“The on-duty fire investigator arrived and searched the area and the cause and origin,” the battalion chief said. “The cause of the fire was … most likely human-related.”
The transient camp had been deserted before firefighters arrived. No suspects were identified.
The wilderness park has been the site of multiple fires over the years, including several caused by a suspected arsonist last year.
Popular among hikers, the nearly 2,000-acre space, which is now bone dry, is bounded by businesses to the south and residential areas to the north, east and west.