NUEVO, CA — Multiple small roadside blazes Tuesday combined to form a roughly 25-acre brush fire that scorched a rocky hillside in Nuevo, near Lake Perris.
Shortly before noon, the non-injury spot fires were reported to the California Highway Patrol, all in the area of Ramona Expressway and Rider Street, according to a Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department spokesperson. An initial report of 100 acres burned was downgraded when air support arrived.
The agency said multiple engine and hand crews were sent to the area and encountered three separate fires, initially amounting to less than two acres.
The spot fires, however, merged within minutes and raced up a hill, east of the expressway.
Two Cal Fire air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter arrived and took an overhead look; the brush fire was estimated at 20-25 acres, according to reports from the scene.
No homes or other structures were immediately threatened.
The California Highway Patrol said the blaze was caused by sparks from a passing vehicle.
"Motorists called just after the fires erupted, saying a heavy-loaded truck was throwing sparks along the expressway, igniting the extremely dry roadside vegetation amid 100-degree heat," according to CHP dispatch.
Officers shut down the expressway, between Rider to the west and Lakeview Avenue to the east, as a public safety precaution.
Detours were in place.
VEGETATION FIRE - rpt @ 11:56AM. Ramona Expressway / Pico Avenue, Nuevo. Firefighters are on-scene of approximately 100 acres burning on a hillside. Additional engines requested and responding. #PicoFIRE @RivCoNow https://t.co/y6kj0JV76n
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) October 6, 2026
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