The Associated Press
MURRIETA, Calif. — Firefighters were trying to gain control of a pair of wildfires in Southern California sent residents fleeing and destroyed at least four homes.
In Riverside County, a fire that erupted near a park Sunday afternoon threatened as many as 200 homes as it quickly spread to more than 150 acres of brush, Murrieta Fire Department Chief Matt Shobert said.
More than 150 firefighters, aided by five water- and retardant-dropping aircraft, worked under 90-degrees heat to contain 35 percent of the blaze.
Shobert said no evacuation order was issued, but officials opened a shelter at Murrieta High School for those who fled their homes. He said officials were assessing the extent of the fire’s damages; so far they determined that a recreational vehicle and a barn were destroyed.
Further south, a fire that started near the Campo Indian Reservation destroyed four homes and threatened 80 more in a rural part of San Diego County.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Capt. Mike Mohler said 20 mph afternoon winds fanned the flames, and the fire grew to 1,700 acres of brush. It was 10 percent contained.
Mohler said the fire destroyed several outbuildings and was moving to open country further east.
An evacuation center was set up at a high school in the nearby community of Pine Valley. Many residents gathered at the Golden Acorn Casino, which also served as the command post for firefighters, to learn whether their homes were still standing.
Christopher Kirchner told U-T San Diego that the place he rents was about 200 feet from a residence that burned down. He worried that his home might have burned, too.
“I was just talking to some of my neighbors,” Kirchner said. “They were crying and saying they had no place to go. We’ve heard rumors that our place is still standing, but nobody will tell us anything.”
More than 300 firefighters were battling the blaze.
The cause of both fires was under investigation.