A fire that erupted Tuesday in the Santa Ana River bottom in Jurupa Valley charred about a quarter acre in heavy brush before crews stopped it.
The non-injury blaze was reported at 3:33 p.m. on the northern bank of the river bottom, near Market Street and Via Cerro, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said multiple engine crews from the county and Riverside Fire Department were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a marginal rate in thick vegetation, adjacent to a homeless encampment.
By 4 p.m., the forward rate of spread had been stopped, and the blaze was largely contained, according to reports from the scene. Crews were expected to have it under control by 5 p.m.
There was no immediate word regarding what might have triggered the fire. The river bottom is rife with homeless encampments, and cooking, warming and debris fires are common year-round. The temperature on Tuesday peaked at 59 in Riverside.