A fire that erupted Tuesday southeast of Mountain Center in the San Bernardino National Forest scorched roughly 35 acres in heavy brush before Cal Fire aircraft slowed its advance, enabling crews to begin establishing tentative containment lines.
The non-injury blaze was reported just after 1 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Highway 74 and Fobes Ranch Road, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
“The crews are starting to pick it up,” USFS spokesman Lee Beyer told City News Service. “It didn’t really take off up the hill, so that’s a good thing.”
Beyer said that about a dozen engine crews and four hand crews from the Forest Service and Riverside County Fire Department, numbering close to 150 personnel, were on the fire lines as of 3 p.m.
Three Cal Fire air tankers and four water-dropping helicopters initiated runs on the brusher before 2 p.m., reducing the rate of spread. All of the tankers were sent home shortly after 3 p.m., Beyer said.
“The crews have got hose lays around part of the fire, but they’re still working on it,” he said.
No structures were threatened.
Forest Fire road closures
Beyer said a Forest Service road had been closed to general traffic for public safety, but Highway 74 was not impacted.
There is a campground in the vicinity, but the nearest homes are located in Pinyon Pines, miles from the blaze.
Beyer anticipated firefighters would be working on containment well into the night.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Forest Fire erupts near Mountain Center, east of Highway 74
Reporting by City News Service / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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