Fire Scorches 200 Acres In RivCo As Cranston Fire Burns Nearby

PINYON PINES, CA — A 200-acre brush fire that broke out near Pinyon Pines while hundreds of fire personnel were busy battling a much larger blaze to the north was 45 percent contained Friday evening.

The Ribbon Fire was reported at 10:12 a.m. Thursday near state Route 74 and Ribbonwood Drive, according to Tawny Cabral of the Riverside County Fire Department, who said it was burning "at a moderate rate of spread."

No injuries were immediately reported, nor was there any word on what sparked the blaze.

Evacuation warnings were initially issued for Alpine Village, Pinyon Crest, Pinyon Pines and the Pinyon Flatts campground. Those warnings were lifted Friday.

An evacuation center had been set up at Palm Desert High, 74910 Aztec Road, according to a tweet from the Riverside County Emergency Management Department.

The fire is separate from the 11,500-acre Cranston Fire, which has kept local firefighters busy since it began around noon Wednesday in the forest between Hemet and Mountain Center.

— By City News Service / Image via Riverside County Sheriff's Department