A brush fire in the Juniper Flats area between Perris and San Jacinto has burned at least 490 acres and was 20% contained Sunday, with hundreds of residents still under evacuation orders, authorities said.
The blaze was reported at 5:52 p.m. Saturday near the 21000 block of Horseshoe Trail, Riverside County Fire Department spokesman Rob Roseen said.
First reported at 10 acres, the so-called “Horseshoe Fire” jumped to 75 acres by 6:40 p.m., Roseen said. It then jumped to 100 acres by 8:40 p.m. but doubled in size overnight.
“The first arriving engine reported the fire burning in heavy fuels with a moderate rate of spread,” Roseen said.
Two hundred residents from 60 homes in the community of Mayberry in San Jacinto remained under evacuation orders from the Riverside County Fire Department. The orders were issued at 7:20 p.m. Saturday and affected homes west of Warren Road and south of Mulberry Street. There have been no reports of structure damage.
A care and reception center was set up at Tahquitz High School, 4425 Titan Trail in Hemet, Roseen said.
More than 200 firefighters were assigned to battle the blaze, along with two air tankers and one helicopter, he said.
No injuries have been reported.
A smoke advisory triggered by the fire was issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District through Monday morning, with air quality potentially becoming unhealthy for sensitive groups in San Jacinto, Beaumont, Calimesa, Banning and Cabazon.