AGUANGA — Two brush fires that erupted Wednesday less than a mile apart in Aguanga scorched some 700 acres, destroying structures, prompting evacuations and forcing the closure of a highway in the Southern Riverside County community.
Combined, they were named the Dale fire and were burning in the area of Highway 371 east of Lake Riverside. More broadly, the area is east of Temecula and north of the San Diego County border.
The blaze was reported at 12:37 p.m. and its cause was under investigation, the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department said. By 3:27 p.m. it was measured at 331 acres. By around 7 p.m. it had grown to 700 acres.
The agency said multiple engine and hand crews from the county and surrounding agencies were sent to the area and encountered flames moving at a rapid rate at the larger brusher.
At least two structures, possibly vacant outbuildings, were consumed by the flames, according to officials.
Seven Cal Fire air tankers and three water-dropping helicopters initiated runs on the larger fire at 1:10 p.m. The flames continued progressing in the direction of Cahuilla Creek Motocross and the Cahuilla Casino Hotel, both south of Highway 371, east of the brusher.
Evacuation orders were implemented by sheriff’s deputies for the race track, remote properties southeast of the Lake Riverside Estates and elsewhere on the south side of Highway 371. Other properties in and around the Cahuilla Indian Reservation were under evacuation warnings as of 5:30 p.m.
A care and reception center was established at the Anza Community Center, 56630 Highway 371. The Department of Animal Services was accepting evacuated pets at the agency’s San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, 581 S. Grand Ave.
Both sides of the highway were shut down for public safety between Cary and Bradford Hills roads, Caltrans reported.
