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Ramona Fire burns nearly 350 acres of hillsides near San Jacinto; arson suspect arrested in Homeland blaze By City News Service
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brush fire that erupted just north of San Jacinto swept over hillsides, scorching 348 acres, threatening homes and agricultural operations and prompting evacuations, was 80% contained Wednesday. The Riverside County Fire Department issued an update at 6:19 p.m. Tuesday, saying that resources would remain at the incident overnight continuing to mop up and patrol the fire. The noninjury blaze was reported just after 2 p.m. Monday in the Ramona Expressway and North Warren Road area. Multiple engine and hand crews were sent to the location and encountered flames burning along barren hillsides, propelled by southwesterly winds. Several Cal Fire air
tankers and water-dropping helicopters from the nearby Hemet-Ryan Airport made runs on the fire through the afternoon. As the flames moved west, they approached a residential area abutted by dairy farms, leading fire personnel to implement mandatory evacuations in the neighborhood bounded by Cottonwood Avenue to the south, Upperline Avenue to the north, Beech Street to the west and Warren Road to the east. At 5:45 p.m. Monday, flames were within 100 feet of houses on Upperline Avenue and Cal Fire air tankers were summoned to drop retardant and strengthen defensive lines, according to reports from the scene. An evacuation warning was issued to residents and agricultural operators within
the area bounded by Cottonwood to the south, Esplanade Avenue to the north, Beech Street to the west and Warren Road to the east. Those evacuation orders were lifted at 8:30 p.m. Monday and residents were permitted to return to their homes, according to the fire department. Warren Road reopened between the Ramona Expressway and Esplanade Avenue. The cause of the fire was under investigation. A day earlier in Homeland, a spot fire that was allegedly intentionally ignited by a man pouring fuel on vegetation was quickly knocked down, and the suspect was taken into custody. The noninjury blaze was reported just after 1 p.m. in the area of Echo Valley and Ranch roads, according to the
Fire scorches a hillside in the San Jacinto area. | Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Fire Department
Riverside County Fire Department. The agency said multiple engine crews were sent to the location, which is less than a mile north of Highway 74, and encountered flames burning in brush covering a roughly
1,000 square foot space. A man carrying a fuel can was allegedly splashing the vegetation with petrol, according to officials at the scene. Sheriff's deputies were summoned and arrested the
suspect, whose identity was not released, without incident minutes later. Cal Fire arson investigators were also summoned to assist with the investigation. The blaze was knocked down within 20 minutes.
3rd Lake Elsinore Storm game postponed following clubhouse explosion
Report: Riverside County's finances at end of fiscal year 'stable'
By City News Service
By City News Service
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he Lake Elsinore Storm Sunday postponed a third consecutive game following a natural gas explosion in its clubhouse at The Diamond that injured two plumbers installing a dryer. "Today's game has been officially postponed," the Class-A California League team tweeted at 10:32 a.m. "For any questions regarding tickets purchased, group outings, or more please call our Box Office which will be receiving calls today until 2 PM and MondayFriday from 11-4 PM. Thank you for your patience and understanding at this time." The San Diego Padres' affiliate had announced on social media Saturday that the 1:15 p.m. game against the Inland Empire 66ers "was expected to occur as previously scheduled." The team has not played since the explosion, which occurred at about 4:20 p.m. Friday. Plumbers were purging a gas line, but the line did not burst and the explosion was not the result of a failure of equipment, Ahmad Solomon, a spokesman for SoCalGas, told The Press-Enterprise on Saturday. See Lake Elsinore Storm Page 36
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iverside County government's financial condition at the close of the current fiscal year is "stable," with agencies out of the red but still required to exercise budgetary discipline as cost pressures mount, according to a report the Board of Supervisors received Tuesday. "Our budgets over the last three years have lacked deficit spending, (while we) have also increased reserves," Supervisor Chuck Washington said, saluting the work of county CEO Jeff Van Wagenen. "We have been proactive and not reactive." In the Executive Office's third-quarter budget report for 2022-23, Van Wagenen wrote that the "near-term outlook appears stable" but county departments still need to prepare for "challenges ... in the years to come." "While we continue to project increased revenues compared to the adopted budget, it should be noted that the pace of growth is slowing down significantly, while costs continue to rise to maintain the status quo, let alone increase service levels," the CEO said. As with the midyear report in February, the third-quarter update indicated discreSee Financial condition Page 17