A brush fire that broke out Monday near the Cahuilla Casino in Anza charred just under 100 acres and threatened a mobile home park, prompting the closure of a highway, before it was contained.
The non-injury “Casino Fire” was reported at 3:08 p.m. in the area of Cary Road and Highway 371, a half-mile east of the casino, and briefly threatened 20 properties in and around the Anza Pines Mobile Home Park, just south of Highway 371 and west of Anza Trail.
Nearly 200 Riverside County Fire Department personnel were assisted by four Cal Fire air tankers and two water-dropping helicopters that made repeated runs on the brusher, preventing it from reaching the structures.
According to reports from the scene, some residents voluntarily evacuated, but no mandatory evacuations by Cahuilla Indian Reservation authorities or sheriff’s deputies were ordered.
At 5:20 p.m., the fire was declared 100% contained, and the official estimate on the acreage burned was pending, though it was believed to be between 85 and 100 acres.
The California Highway Patrol shut down Highway 371 between Homestead Road to the west, in front of the casino, and Howard Road to the east for public safety. The corridor was slated to be reopened before nightfall. Flagging operations were in effect to move traffic one-way along shoulder space on the highway.
The blaze was in the vicinity of two other brush fires that burned more than 30 acres last week, though both of those brushers were on the north side of the highway.
The cause of the current blaze was under investigation.