A fast-moving brush fire charred at least 40 acres in an unincorporated area near Beaumont Saturday, though fire officials said crews had halted its spread.
The non-injury fire was reported at 11:32 a.m. near the intersection of Lamb Canyon Road and California Avenue, in the Badlands southeast of Beaumont.
When fire crews first arrived on scene, the blaze was “burning at a moderate to dangerous rate of spread,” according to the Riverside County Fire Department, but as firefighters began to gain ground they reported it was “holding within the road structure, and burning on the west side of Lamb Canyon Road.”
By 12:52 p.m., fire officials said the blaze was holding at 30 acres and about an hour later reported that its forward progress had been stopped at 40 acres.
The sparsely populated area is marked by rugged, hilly terrain difficult to access, except by dirt roads.
More than 170 county firefighters were battling the blaze, assisted by three Cal Fire water-dropping helicopter and four air tankers. Assistance was originally requested from Bureau of Land Management firefighters, but was later called off.
No structures were threatened by the flames.
Last week, a fire ravaged 525 acres about five miles west of this fire, near Gilman Springs Road and Jerry Street, prompting the evacuation of numerous homes.