A brush fire in the foothills west of Murrieta in Riverside County grew to more than 100 acres and forced evacuations Tuesday before firefighters began to contain the blaze.
The Volcano fire briefly forced evacuation orders in La Cresta before those were reduced to warnings about 7:45 p.m.
“Crews will continue working throughout the night assisted by night flying helicopters,” the Riverside County Fire Department posted on X. “There are no reports of injuries to firefighters or civilians.”
On Wednesday morning, the fire was listed at 138 acres and 25% contained on the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection website. The cause is under investigation. It started around 2:50 p.m. near Via Volcano and Tenaja Road in unincorporated Murrieta.
An evacuation order remained in effect for a patch of land at and least one property off The Trails Circle. The area also burned in 2019 during the Tenaja fire, which grew to 1,000 acres.
The fire was one of three that broke out amid unseasonably warm temperatures in Central and Southern California Tuesday. There was also two fires in San Luis Obispo County — the 10 acre Twitchel fire and a 543 acre fire at a solar ranch, which was 80% contained by the end of the day.
Temperatures could reach 99 degrees with humidity dropping into the single digits inland around the Bear fire, with temperatures cooling and humidity ramping up closer to the coast, according to the National Weather Service.
In Southern California, Wednesday is expected to be the warmest day, with high temperatures in the mid-80s along the coasts, the mid-90s to 102 in the valleys, and 105 to 107 in the Antelope Valley, according to the weather service.
The coasts may cool a couple degrees Thursday due to a stronger and earlier sea breeze, but the valleys are expected to see little change, and the mountains and far interior may warm a degree or two, forecasters said.
Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth contributed to this article.
