Rose Fire: Cause Determined, Evacuations Lifted In 200-Acre Blaze Near Lake Elsinore [UPDATED]

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — A brush fire continued to burn near Lake Elsinore Monday evening, but some progress was made on containing it, the Riverside County Fire Department reports. The fire, dubbed the Rose Incident, quickly spread after breaking out around 2:20 p.m. in the area of the 14800 block of Amorose Place, which is near Grand Avenue and the Ortega Highway. (Scroll to bottom for full gallery of fire images)

At of 3:31 p.m., firefighters began alerting of evacuations. Evacuation warnings were issued for the El Cariso Campground and the Los Pinos Forestry Camp, within the Cleveland National Forest, as well as the North Main Divide. However, that evacuation warning was lifted at 4:45 p.m., according to Riverside County fire officials

As of 9 p.m., the fire was estimated to be 200 acres in size, with 10 percent containment. More than 200 firefighters remained assigned to the incident. Another size update wasn't expected until Tuesday morning.

At 3:50 p.m., evacuation orders began to roll out. As of 7 p.m., the following streets were under evacuation order: Amorose Street, Toft Street, Rockridge Road and Ainsworth Place. However, those order were lifted at 8:10 p.m.

"Motorists should drive with caution through the fire area and yield to fire equipment and personnel working," the Riverside County Fire Department said.

An evacuation center had been set up at Elsinore High School, located at 21800 Canyon Drive in Wildomar, according to the fire department.

"CAL FIRE/Riverside County Firefighters, with the USFS are on scene of a wildland fire in the unincorporated area of Lake Elsinore," Jody Hagemann of the Riverside County Fire Department reported around 2:22 p.m., when the blaze first broke out.

Shortly after the Rose Fire broke out, fire officials at 3:10 p.m. estimated the size at 20-25 acres and 130 firefighters were on scene of the blaze, officials reported. At 4:45 p.m., the size had ballooned to 150 acres, with zero containment, and 205 firefighters were assigned to the incident.

Several air resources were also assigned to the incident, including six air tankers.

Part of Grand Avenue, between Machado Street and Amorose, was closed due to the fire, officials added around 4 p.m. However, Grand was reopened at the same time that the evacuation orders were lifted.

Meanwhile, the suspected cause of the fire was determined Monday night.

"CAL FIRE Investigators determined that the fire was caused accidentally by equipment," Hagemann said in a fire report. "No further information [is] available."

Ortega highway fire #lakeelsinore pic.twitter.com/J145BrYh0u
— ▽that green stone▽ (@hunymoondiaries) July 31, 2017

This is a breaking news story. Refresh for the latest.

--

Second image, of flames behind a local home, courtesy Jeremy Hoy. All other images are courtesy of Mark Ritter.