Blaze in Santa Ana River Bottom Quickly Stopped

RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A fire that erupted Friday in the Santa Ana River bottom in Riverside scorched nearly a half-acre before crews contained it.

The non-injury blaze was reported shortly after 3 p.m. just off of Mission Inn Avenue, on the north side of Mount Rubidoux, according to the Riverside Fire Department.

Multiple engine crews from the city and Riverside County Fire Department were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a slow rate in thick vegetation within a homeless encampment.

No evacuations were ordered.

By 3:40 p.m., crews had established tentative containment lines, and most county fire engines were leaving the area.

The river bottom remains dotted with encampments, despite actions by the city and county to curb illegal dwellings.

Last October, the Riverside City Council approved an ordinance making homeless encampments illegal on the city side of the river bottom.

The ordinance specifies that "sitting, lying, sleeping" or maintaining habitable space along or in the river bottom within city limits is prohibited. Regulations permit police, fire, code enforcement and other municipal officials to dismantle transient camps and place items belonging to homeless individuals in storage facilities.

The Riverside County Flood Control & Water Conservation District announced last fall that crews would be initiating a four-year project to fortify levees to mitigate flood hazards between Jurupa Valley and Riverside, requiring the removal of transient camps in the construction zone on the Jurupa Valley side of the river bottom.

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