A brush fire that broke out Thursday just south of Highway 371 in Aguanga charred 51 acres before it was stopped.
The non-injury blaze was reported just after noon Thursday in the area of the two-lane highway and Foolish Pleasure Road, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said that multiple engine and hand crews from the county and Cal Fire-San Diego County were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a moderate rate through medium vegetation.
Three Cal Fire air tankers and two water-dropping helicopters initiated runs as the brusher approached scattered homes to the east, significantly slowing the rate of spread, according to reports from the scene.
By 1:30 p.m., the fire’s forward rate of spread had been stopped, and all tankers had cleared the area, leaving the choppers to make targeted drops at the direction of ground personnel.
No homes or other structures were damaged, and no mandatory evacuation orders were issued in the rural area.
Full containment of the blaze was not anticipated before sunset.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. Locations in and around the Cahuilla Indian Reservation in Aguanga have been points of origin for wildfires every summer over the last decade, often without explanation.