Firefighters battling a brush fire that broke out in the Santa Ana River bottom, burning 39 acres before its progress was stopped, have reached 99% containment of the blaze, authorities said Saturday.
The non-injury Clay Fire was reported at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Clay Street and Van Buren Boulevard, along the boundary separating Jurupa Valley and Riverside, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said multiple engine and ladder crews from the Riverside County and Riverside fire departments were sent to the location, encountering flames fanned by weakening Santa Ana winds toward a residential area along Bradford Street.
A third alarm was declared as the fire moved closer to the Bradford homes a short time later, and the neighborhood was briefly placed under an evacuation warning.
No Cal Fire aircraft were used due to the onset of darkness.
Dozer lines and hand crews worked overnight to build containment and conduct mop-up operations, fire officials said.
The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known, but the river bottom is rife with homeless encampments, and cooking, warming and debris fires are a year-round occurrence.