A brush fire that erupted Monday in the San Bernardino National Forest between Anza and Pinyon Pines charred roughly 125 acres, prompting closure of Highway 74, before Cal Fire aircraft slowed its advance.
The non-injury blaze was reported at 12:25 p.m. Monday on the north side of the highway at Santa Rosa Truck Trail, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said multiple engine and hand crews from the county, U.S. Forest Service and Palm Springs Fire Department were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a rapid rate to the north through heavy vegetation.
No homes or other structures were immediately threatened.
Five Cal Fire air tankers initiated runs on the brusher, slowing its progress early Monday afternoon. However, as a public safety precaution, California Highway Patrol officers shut down both east- and westbound lanes on Highway 74 between the junction at Highway 371 in Anza to the west and the outskirts of Pinyon Pines to the east — about a seven-mile stretch.
Evacuation warnings were issued for scattered properties on the west side of Pinyon Pines.
Firefighters made progress establishing tentative containment lines on the back side, or “heel,” of the brusher, but they were contending with thick overgrowth to reach the head of the fire, where aircraft operations were focused, according to reports from the scene.
Winds in the area were reportedly light and variable.
The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.