Wildomar Brush Fire Contained At 15 Acres

WILDOMAR, CA — A fire that erupted Tuesday behind a church in Wildomar spread into heavy vegetation along a waterway, scorching 15 acres before it was stopped.

The non-injury blaze was reported about 12:30 p.m. adjacent to the Murrieta Springs Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the 23300 block of Palomar Street, roughly a half-mile west of Interstate 15, according to Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

Multiple engine crews from the county and the city of Murrieta converged on the location within a few minutes and encountered flames burning toward a riparian area.

Several homes situated near Copper Canyon Park were in the path of the fire, but crews out-flanked the brusher, preventing the properties from being damaged.

The brusher was completely encircled at 2:15 p.m.

Sheriff's deputies shut down Palomar between Grizzly Ridge Drive to the south and Wing Elm Circle to the north for about two hours to prevent motorists from interfering with fire equipment.

Smoke drifted toward I-15 and over parts of the freeway, disrupting travel and alarming motorists, triggering a flurry of 911 calls. Most of the smoke had dispersed two hours later.

There was no immediate word on how the fire started.

—City News Service