A brush fire that erupted Friday in Sage burned almost 40 acres at the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, prompting evacuation warnings for residents in outlying areas as Cal Fire aircraft worked to prevent the blaze from jumping dirt roads.
The non-injury blaze was reported at 12:40 p.m. Friday in the area of Taffle Ranch and Red Mountain roads, about six miles southeast of Hemet, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said multiple engine and hand crews were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a moderate rate through medium vegetation in the lightly populated area.
Four Cal Fire air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter arrived just after 1 p.m. and initiated runs on the brusher that appeared to slow its rate of spread to the northwest, according to reports from the scene.
Firefighters were working to keep the flames south of Red Mountain and east of Oak Drive, where only a few scattered residential properties were in the path of the fire.
Evacuation warnings were issued for all of residences and ranches located east of Oak, north of Taffle Ranch and south of Red Mountain.
Winds were picking up speed as of 1:40 p.m.
The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.