A brush fire that erupted Monday adjacent to the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway in a rugged area known as the Badlands scorched about two acres and prompted lane closures before it was stopped.
The non-injury blaze was reported at 1:30 p.m. Monday along the eastbound 60, about a half-mile east of Gilman Springs Road and a mile east of the Moreno Valley city limits, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said multiple engine crews were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a slow rate through medium vegetation in close proximity to eastbound freeway lanes.
CHP officers shut down the dedicated eastbound truck lane and the regular traffic slow lane, leaving only the eastbound fast lane open, as a public safety precaution through the Badlands.
The westbound side of the freeway wasn’t impacted.
Two Cal Fire air tankers were initially summoned but quickly canceled when the fire’s forward rate of spread was halted at 2:05 p.m., according to reports from the scene.
Full containment was anticipated by 3 p.m., after which the lane closures were expected to be lifted.
The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.