A brush fire that erupted Wednesday northeast of Anza scorched roughly 50 acres at the foot of the San Bernardino National Forest before it was stopped.
The non-injury blaze was reported at 3:25 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Bautista Canyon and Glasgow roads, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said that multiple engine and hand crews from the county, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and other agencies were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a moderate rate across open space to the east, along the forest boundary.
Four Cal Fire air tankers and three water-dropping helicopters initiated runs on the brusher 20 minutes after it started, significantly slowing its advance. As of 4:30 p.m. the blaze’s forward rate of spread was halted, and crews were encircling the burn field at a brisk pace, according to officials at the scene.
All aircraft departed the location by 4:45 p.m.
A mandatory evacuation order that had been issued for the few scattered properties in the immediate vicinity of the fire was lifted about the same time.
Officials said that a vacant structure, possibly an outbuilding, was damaged in the first minutes of the fire.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation. The area encompassing Anza and Aguanga, abutting the Cahuilla Indian Reservation, has been the point of origin for a cluster of minor and major fires over the last few years.