Fairview Fire grows to 19,377 acres; portion of Highway 74 closed

The deadly Fairview Fire, which sparked on Labor Day near Hemet, more than doubled to 19,377 acres on Wednesday with containment stalled at 5%. Nearly 1,000 personnel were battling the blaze.

The fire, which has killed two people and destroyed structures, is believed to have started near the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Bautista Canyon Road, which incident commander Josh Janssen described as "kind of a rural area with some orange groves."

An investigation into how the fire started is underway but expected to take several days. SoCal Edison said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it was investigating whether its equipment might have played a role in starting the fire.

Janssen said he had no details "on any of that," including any talk between SoCal Edison and Cal Fire.

By Wednesday evening, the most active areas of the fire were on the southeast corner in the Bautista Canyon area, and along Rouse Ridge, fire officials said at a community meeting in Garner Valley. No evacuation orders or warnings were in effect in the Garner Valley area.

Sheriff Sgt. Brandi Swan said the department has not been able to identify the two people who were found dead in a vehicle in the 42400 block of Avery Canyon Road because of "the condition in which they were found." However, the department believes the two people were related and trying to escape the fire in their vehicle.

She said a woman who the department previously said had suffered serious injuries in the fire is also believed to have been a member of the same family and was found outside the vehicle. That person is in the hospital and expected to survive, she said.

Fire burning 'in all directions on all flanks'

Janssen said Wednesday morning the fire was burning "in all directions on all flanks."

"Unfortunately, the fire continued to outpace our efforts," he said. "We took an operational flight of the fire at about [2 p.m.] yesterday and it was clear the fire was outpacing our ground and air resources."

Firefighters had worked to establish control lines on Tuesday, he explained. However, during the day, the fire "spotted" across those lines. "Spotting" occurs when sparks or embers are carried by the wind to start new fires outside the area of the main fire.

"Even our line that we constructed in multiple areas of the fire was not holding due to weather conditions, the drought-stricken fuels and the fire spotting outside those lines," he said.

As of Wednesday morning, a swath of land extending east from State Street past Forest Route 5S15 between Stetson Avenue and Cactus Valley and then southeast along Bautista Road was under an evacuation order. The order was later updated to include areas south of Cactus Valley Road, north of Minto Way, north of Red Mountain Road, west of the U.S. Forest Service Boundary and east of Sage Road.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, CalTrans announced Highway 74 was closed in both directions from East Borco Street and Willowbrook Road to State Route 243.

Multiple surrounding areas were also under evacuation warnings. Maps showing the current areas covered by the evacuation order and warning can be found at the Riverside County Fire Department's social media pages, including its Facebook page.

Many residents defy evacuation order

Swan said her department has numerous deputies who have been going door-to-door in the evacuation areas asking people to leave. Swan said that while some people are heeding the warnings to evacuate, many have not.

"There are plenty of people that are choosing to shelter in place," she said. "We have gone to over 3,700 homes to make notifications and I would say maybe a quarter of those people are actually leaving."

She added that she wants people in the evacuation order and warning areas to know that the department "begs for their cooperation on the evacuation orders and warnings."

"Fire is very unpredictable and moves very, very fast," she said. " And we really need for you to gather your belongings if you're close to the fire, get yourself ready and get yourself prepared to leave in the event that evacuation order comes into place."

Equally important to evacuating is hardening a home to provide a defensible space for firefighters to defend the home and get in and out of it, Janssen said.

He said the homes that have survived the fire so far have had a "great defensible space around them."

On Tuesday, the decision was made to establish a "unified command" for the fire that will allow for increased cooperation between the Riverside County Fire Department, the U.S. Forest Service and the Hemet Fire Department.

Janssen said the decision to go into unified command was made because the fire is rapidly progressing toward federal land and there is a need "to collectively make decisions." A national type-one incident management team, which is assigned to manage large-scale complex fires nationwide, has also been activated, he said.

Hemet is expected to be slightly cooler and less windy Thursday,  but the winds are expected to pick up again Friday and gust as high as 30 mph.

Significant rain may fall on Friday, which could assist in firefighting efforts. However, strong winds may come ahead of the storm, said Forest Service Fire Chief Salvador Reyes.

On Wednesday,  Riverside County Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Van Wagenen proclaimed the fire a local emergency for the county. The proclamation will be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom with a request for all state and federal assistance the county could be eligible for to help deal with the emergency. On Tuesday, the county received a Federal FEMA grant that will cover 75% of eligible costs related to fighting the fire.

Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the City of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.

Desert Sun reporters Brian Blueskye and Julie Makinen contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Fairview Fire grows to 19,377 acres, is burning 'in all directions on all flanks'