A fire that erupted Tuesday along the perimeter of Box Springs Mountain Reserve on the east end of Riverside burned an estimated five acres before it was stopped.
The non-injury brush fire was reported at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Watkins Drive and Spruce Street, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said multiple engine and hand crews from the county and Riverside Fire Department were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a moderate rate through light brush.
No structures were threatened in the industrial area.
Firefighters established hose lays and got a line around the blaze, halting its forward rate of spread shortly after 2 p.m. Crews were expected to finish mopping up by 4 p.m.
The fire started within city limits, but Box Springs Mountain Reserve is part of the state responsibility area under Cal Fire’s jurisdiction.
Witnesses reported seeing an itinerant walking away from where the blaze originated, and Riverside Police Department officers were searching for that party. No description was available.