Sparks Ignite 175+ Acre Brusher Near Lake Perris, Along Ramona Expressway

NUEVO, CA — Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department aircraft significantly slowed a brush fire's advance near Lake Perris, enabling crews to begin establishing tentative containment lines Tuesday. The blaze burned through over 173 acres of brush on a rocky Nuevo hillside after a passing truck sparked brush along the Ramona Expressway roadside, witnesses say.

Named the Pico Fire, the blaze was 5% contained as of 3:30 p.m., according to Cal Fire incident reports.

The non-injury spot fires were reported at 11:55 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Ramona Expressway and Rider Street, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

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.

Three Cal Fire air tankers and two water-dropping helicopters began runs on the enlarged blaze by 12:45 p.m., eventually closing off the heel and western flank and allowing firefighters to gradually encircle the brush fire, according to reports from the scene.

No homes or other structures were immediately threatened, and no evacuations or injuries were immediately reported.

"Crews are making good progress and are expected to be at the incident throughout the day," according to official reports. "Full containment was not expected until overnight."

The California Highway Patrol dispatch reported that motorists notified them of spot fires that erupted from a heavily loaded truck. That vehicle was throwing sparks along the expressway, igniting the extremely dry roadside vegetation amid 100-degree heat.

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. The CHP said the west- and eastbound lanes would likely remain closed until after dark Tuesday.