Fairview Fire now 40% contained as rain helps firefighters halt its advance

Brian Blueskye, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·2 min read
A hand crew works the Fairview Fire in a remote area south of Highway 74 in the Cleveland National Forest on Thursday.
A hand crew works the Fairview Fire in a remote area south of Highway 74 in the Cleveland National Forest on Thursday.

The battle against the Fairview Fire burning on the west side of the San Jacinto Mountains was aided as the weekend began with the rainfall from Tropical Storm Kay.

As of late Saturday morning, the fire was 40% contained, up from the 5% where it had stalled most of the week. Cal Fire had not given another update by The Desert Sun's print deadline.

The fire, which started southeast of Hemet Monday afternoon, had burned 28,307 acres.

The National Weather Service issued flood watches through Riverside County from Friday morning through Saturday night. The heaviest rain was expected on the eastern slopes of the mountains and in their neighboring deserts. In addition, high wind warnings are in effect for all of the fire area.

The Fairview Fire burns in a remote area south of Highway 74 in the Cleveland National Forest on Thursday.
The Fairview Fire burns in a remote area south of Highway 74 in the Cleveland National Forest on Thursday.

A warning covering the San Jacinto Mountains called for winds of 45 to 55 mph and gusts of as much of 100 mph. Another warning said winds could be 35 to 45 mph, with gusts of up to 65 mph, in valley areas west of the mountains, including Temecula, Sage and Cahuilla.

James Brotherton of the National Weather Service told The Desert Sun on Saturday the fire area had received 0.25 inches of rain so far, with a 60% chance of rain and isolated thunderstorms throughout the day and 30% chance in the evening. Winds from the southeast are expected to be between 5 mph to 10 mph.

Cal Fire updated its incident dashboard Saturday to show 13 structures have been destroyed and four damaged.

Evacuation orders in some parts of the Sage and Temecula areas were reduced to warnings around 5:30 p.m. Friday amid rainy weather conditions that CalFire said were helping firefighters slow the spread.

As of 4 p.m. Saturday, the following areas were reduced to evacuation warnings:

  • West of the U.S. Forest Service boundary

  • North of Wilson Valley Road/Reed Valley Road

  • East of Sage Road

  • South of Stanley Road

  • West of Sage Road

  • North of East Benton Road

  • East of De Portola Road

  • South of Cactus Valley Road

  • Larking Lane

These areas are no longer under evacuation warnings:

  • South of Diamond Valley Lake

  • East of Washington Street

  • North of Borel Road

  • East of Rancho California Road

  • East of Anza Road

  • North of Temecula Parkway/Highway 79

  • Northwest of Highway 371

  • West of Highway 74

  • South of the U.S. Forest Service boundary, including Ramona Indian Reservation and Olivet University

The agency said Thursday that it expected full containment of the fire by Monday, although officials cautioned that is subject to changing conditions. Capt. Richard Cordova said Friday the agency was still shooting for that day, but changes could make meeting that target impossible.

Officials have not said more about the cause of the fire since saying it is under investigation. In a document filed with the California Public Utilities Commission, Southern California Edison reported “circuit activity” in the area close to the time the fire erupted.

Previous reporting by Desert Sun staff writer Paul Albani-Burgio was used for this report. 

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Fairview Fire now 40% contained; rain helps firefighters