A brush fire that erupted Tuesday on a hillside in Mead Valley scorched nearly 50 acres before Cal Fire aircraft slowed its advance.
The non-injury blaze was reported at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Rider Street and Seaton Avenue, less than a mile west of Interstate 215, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said multiple engine and hand crews from the county, Pechanga Tribal Fire Department and other agencies were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a moderate rate through medium brush.
Two Cal Fire air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter initiated runs on the brusher shortly before 2 p.m., shutting off some of its burn potential across open ground.
Flames were concentrated in uninhabited space bounded by roads between an industrial area to the east and residential properties to the west and north. A previous brusher occurred in the same general area last month and was contained within an hour.
No evacuation orders appeared imminent.
Sheriff’s deputies shut down westbound Rider from Harville Avenue for public safety.
The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.