Holy Fire: Containment Increased, Suspect Due In Court

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — The wildfire burning in Riverside and Orange counties is 83 percent contained Friday morning after scorching 22,986 acres in the Cleveland National Forest.

The man accused of starting the fire is scheduled to be in court in Santa Ana later Friday morning. Forrest Gordon Clark, 51, has been jailed in lieu of $1 million bail. During a court hearing Aug. 10, he labeled the arson charges against him a "lie" and insisted he was being threatened by gang members.

Firefighters focused their battle against the Holy Fire on the northern edge of the blaze in Anderson Canyon in Riverside County and to the south in Orange County's Bell Canyon. Flare-ups and smoking vegetation were still visible in Anderson Canyon.

All evacuations were lifted Wednesday, but all recreational areas and campgrounds in the fire area in Riverside County remain closed, including Blue Jay and Falcon Campgrounds, as well as areas north of Ortega (74) Highway and south of Blackstar Canyon Road and Skyline Drive.

School districts in Riverside County affected by the fire delayed their first days of classes until next week. The Lake Elsinore Unified School District and schools in the Corona-Norco Unified School District located south of the 91 Freeway and east of Border Avenue in Corona will begin classes on Aug 20.

In Orange County, the rugged terrain and heavy fuels in Bell Canyon will make gaining final control of the fire difficult for crews on the ground and in the air.

The Holy Jim trails and Trabuco Canyon in Orange County remain closed.

More than 1,000 firefighters are fighting the blaze, which has destroyed 12 homes in Orange County and six in Riverside County since it erupted about 1:30 p.m., Aug. 6 near Holy Jim and Trabuco Creek roads, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito said. The fire dramatically increased in size near the Horsethief Canyon area on Aug. 8, then jumped the North Main Divide dirt road, burning into the Lake Elsinore area of Riverside County, Bommarito said.

Bommarito noted that the area probably hasn't burned since the early 1980s.

— By City News Service / Image via Mark Ritter