Two brush fires that broke out Friday in the Santa Ana River bottom in Riverside merged into one blaze and blackened roughly six acres before crews gained the upper hand.
The non-injury fires were reported at 12:28 p.m. Friday in the area of Mission Inn Avenue and Crestmore Road, along Riverside’s municipal boundary.
The Riverside Fire Department stated that one fire was a quarter-acre and the other a half-acre before they combined amid light to moderate Santa Ana winds.
As of 1:50 p.m., the entire fire zone was mapped at just over six acres within the river bottom. No homes or other structures were threatened, and no evacuations were required.
Both Cal Fire air tankers that had been requested went into a holding pattern above the blaze but did not made any runs, returning to Hemet-Ryan Airport fully loaded, according to reports from the scene.
Multiple city and Riverside County Fire Department crews established hose lays in the river bottom, and shortly before 2 p.m., officials reported steady progress encircling the fire, which was expected to be completely contained by 5 p.m.
There was no immediate word on what may have triggered the brushers. The river bottom is teeming with homeless encampments, and cooking, warming and debris fires are common year-round.