A four-alarm vegetation fire was burning in the city of Riverside on Sunday afternoon, consuming more than 60 acres and spurring evacuations, officials said.
The Mandalay fire caused heavy, drifting smoke, which prompted 911 calls from concerned residents, the Riverside Fire Department said on Facebook. The department said five mutual-aid engine companies and Cal Fire had joined in the firefight. By about 4:30 p.m., forward progress on the fire was halted, according to Watch Duty.
Resident Amy Ashcraft, standing amid a haze of wildfire smoke, said she and others had been observing the fire near their homes, taking pictures.
“All of the sudden, it just got worse,” she told news organization OnScene. Ashcraft then started wetting down the roof of her family’s home until they were ordered to evacuate.
Mandatory evacuations were in place for an area of the city north of Arlington Avenue, south of the Santa Ana River Trail, east of Mitchell Avenue and Valley Drive, and west of Jurupa and Crest avenues.
Residents spray water on the roof of a home near the Mandalay fire in Riverside on Sunday afternoon.
(OnScene.TV)
An evacuation center was designated at La Sierra Senior Center at 5215 La Sierra Ave., the Riverside Police Department said in a Facebook post at 4:10 p.m.
Officers were assisting with traffic control and had closed Tyler Street between Arlington and Jurupa avenues including all surrounding side streets. Residents on some streets were being advised to “please GO NOW.”
