A fire that erupted Tuesday along the north bank of the dry Sana Ana River bottom in Jurupa Valley charred roughly a half-acre and prompted a road closure before it was stopped.
The blaze was reported at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Lorena Avenue and 66th Street, about a mile east of Interstate 15, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said multiple engine crews were sent to the location and encountered flames burning at a slow rate amid dense vegetation.
Sheriff’s deputies shut down 66th between Lorena and Etiwanda Avenue as a public safety precaution.
No homes or other structures were threatened.
At 11 a.m., the fire’s forward rate of spread was stopped. Control was expected by 1 p.m., officials said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. The river bottom is teeming with homeless encampments, and cooking, warming and debris fires are common year-round.