Wildfire Fast-moving in southern California claimed the lives of two people and injured a third while destroying at least seven buildings, according to officials.
Around 2 p.m. local time, the fire broke out in the city of Hemet in Riverside County and quickly spread to 2,000 acres. The so-called Fairview Fire was “growing very quickly, before firefighters even got on location,” according to Cal Fire Captain Richard Cordova.
On the hand, to battle, the flames were 265 firefighters, 38 engine companies, six air tankers, and four helicopters, according to the Riverside County Fire Department website. About 5% of the fires, which had been stoked by the area’s dry and water-starved vegetation, had been put out by late Monday night.
Tuesday morning’s breezy conditions and the afternoon’s expected high temperatures, according to Cordova, will make putting out the fire even harder. For the next three days, Hemet’s high temperatures are predicted to be at least 100 degrees.
Tuesday morning’s breezy conditions and the afternoon’s expected high temperatures, according to Cordova, will make putting out the fire even harder. For the next three days, Hemet’s high temperatures are predicted to be at least 100 degrees.
The Hemet, Unified School District was also forced to close on Tuesday due to the fire, and at first, the foothills of Hemet Valley, south of Thornton Avenue, north of Polly Butte Road, west of Fairview Avenue, and east of State Street were ordered to be evacuated. Later, the emergency warning was extended to cover communities to the south of Stetson, to the north of Cactus Valley Road, to the west of Fairview Avenue, and to the east of State Street.
Seven properties, some of which were apparently residences, according to fire officials, were destroyed, while numerous more were damaged. Authorities have not yet disclosed the identities of the other two victims who died in the fire. According to Cordova, the victims were in a “one way in, one way out” part of a perilous canyon where the vegetation was overgrown and hadn’t been burned in years.
With major burns to their arms, back, and face, a third individual was hurt in the fire and sent to the hospital.
Throughout the holiday weekend, a number of wildfires ravaged various regions of California, including the Fairview Fire. Two ladies, ages 66 and 73, were murdered in the Mill Fire in Siskiyou County, northern California, which as of Monday night had scorched 4,263 acres and destroyed 98 buildings.