Tenaja fire near Murrieta grows to 1,400 acres; crews
prepare for daytime heat and winds
By HANNAH FRY, JACLYN COSGROVE, GENARO MOLINA
SEP. 5, 2019 7:19 AM
A fast-moving brush fire that erupted in the
hillsides near Murrieta and forced thousands of
residents to evacuate grew to 1,400 acres overnight,
state fire officials said early Thursday.
More than 500 firefighters have been assigned to the
Tenaja fire in Riverside County, which broke out
about 4 p.m. Wednesday near Tenaja and Clinton Keith
roads on a day marked by thunderstorms in the region.
The fire burned all the way down to the Copper Canyon
neighborhood in Murrieta overnight, but crews were
able to stop the flames before any homes were
damaged, said Capt. Fernando Herrera, a spokesman for
the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection.
“The fire probably came within a couple thousand feet
of homes,” he said.
No structures have been damaged, and no injuries have
been reported. The cause of the fire has not been
determined.
Humid conditions and water drops from helicopters
allowed firefighters to gain the upper hand
overnight. While helicopters fought the fire from the
sky, crews cut fire breaks ahead of blaze in an
effort to slow its movement.
“That gave us a huge advantage,” Herrera said of the
helicopter’s efforts overnight. “We were successful
in at least knocking down the heavy flames and heat.
The fire is laying down right now.”
Firefighters had boosted containment of the inferno
to 7% by early Thursday.
Firefighters, however, are expected to be faced with
erratic winds gusting up to 20 mph and temperatures
reaching into the high 90s on Thursday. The heat
could further dry out dense grass and brush in the
region, priming the fuel for burning, said Jimmy
Taeger, a meteorologist with the National Weather
Service in San Diego.
There is a chance of showers and thunderstorms
developing again in the afternoon, but the potential
for any storms to affect the fire area is low, Taeger
said.
“As long as that weather pattern remains it means
there’s potential for the fire to blow up again and
gather some speed,” Herrera said.
Four helicopters and least four air tankers have been
assigned to drop water and fire retardant in the
area. Rugged terrain in the area continues to be a
challenge for crews on the ground, meaning officials
will be relying heavily on air resources, Herrera
said.
In just a few hours on Wednesday, the fire had chewed
through nearly 1,000 acres in unincorporated
Riverside County and began its trek northeast toward
Murrieta.
The speed of the blaze and its proximity to homes
prompted officials to order evacuations of houses
along the Trails Circle in La Cresta and Copper
Canyon, as well as the Santa Rosa Plateau Visitor
Center on Clinton Keith Road. Evacuations are still
in place for more than 400 homes in the area.
Residents of Murrieta’s Bear Creek community are
under voluntary evacuation. Campuses in the Murrieta
Valley Unified School District will be closed
Thursday because of the fire.
The blaze erupted toward the end of a remarkably calm
summer in terms of wildfires.
After two years of devastating wildfires that burned
more than 1.8-million acres in 2018 and 1.2-million
acres in 2017, as of Aug. 18, only 51,079 acres had
burned this year across state and federal lands in
California.
Late spring rains, cooler summer temperatures and
fewer extreme wind events, among other factors, have
combined to help keep the state from burning
uncontrollably, experts say.
But weary fire officials know that can change at any
moment — all it takes is an intense wind event or a
prolonged heat wave and then a spark.
In the Murrieta area, ash fell like snow as police
patrol cars with lights flashing cruised slowly
through neighborhoods to announce evacuations
Wednesday evening. The blaze cast an orange glow on
the hillsides above homes.
Beth Maranville, 59, of Murrieta was standing near a
ridge in Oakhurst Estates watching the fire grow
closer to homes. Maranville had watched the fire when
it was farther away near La Cresta and was shocked at
how quickly it had burned through brush.
About 8 p.m., law enforcement officers came through
the area and asked Maranville and others to
voluntarily evacuate, she said.
“I just saw the lights go out from the house that’s
closest,” Maranville said. “They had already wet
their house down. It’s not looking good, but we’ve
prayed, and we’re going to trust God.
|
|