Brush Fire Off I-15 in Temecula Burning Close to 140 Acres

UPDATE 8:55 a.m., June 5, 2016

The fire is now burning at 139 acres and is 30 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

UPDATE 7:20 a.m., June 5, 2016

There is no change in acreage or containment of the fire burning off of I-15 in Temecula, Cal Fire said in an update late Saturday.
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TEMECULA, Calif. -- A brush fire Saturday off Interstate 15 in Temecula snarled traffic on the southbound side for miles as firefighters battled the blaze that grew to 70 acres as of 6:40 p.m., according to Cal Fire.

By nightfall, the agency estimated containment at 20 percent.

North County fire public information officer John Buchanan told Patch the fire department received the first notification regarding the fire at 11:47 a.m.

"My brother called me at 11:42 because he happened to be driving right past it," Buchanan said.

Four units from North County were among the first to respond to the scene of the fire. No evacuations have been ordered, and no structures are threatened.

Close to 400 firefighters were battling the fire on Saturday— one of whom sustained a non-life threatening injury and was taken to an area hospital.

Due to the firefighting efforts, the California Highway Patrol shut down all southbound lanes of Interstate 15 for nearly five hours, according to incident logs. Northbound lanes were also affected for some time. Traffic was being diverted off at Temecula Parkway. As of 10:30 p.m., all but two southbound lanes had reopened.

Trey Barkley, who was driving from Murrieta to San Diego Saturday afternoon, told Patch it took him about two hours to go just 10 miles on I-15 when he can normally finish the entire trip in 50 minutes.

Barkley, a 29-year-old Murrieta resident, said he initially saw a small pillar of smoke that overtook everything throwing shades of red, white and brown in the air.

SEE ALSO:

• PHOTO GALLERY: Temecula Fire Visible for Miles, I-15 Traffic at a Standstill

Image Credit: Mary Ann Espina Neder

Image Credit: Nathan Wolthousen

Image Credit: Darren Miller (Taken from Murrieta)

Return to Patch for updates on this breaking news story.

Images 1-4 sent to Temecula Patch

Image 5 courtesy Denyse Wilson