Firefighters Protect Homes From Brush Fire in Murrieta Area

The fire, called the Volcano incident, was reported at about 11:30 a.m. near Tenaja and Volcano roads

A brush fire in Murrieta consumed a large home in the North County Wednesday, CalFire authorities said.

The fire was caused by a county landscaping crew clearing roadside brush in an effort to reduce the fire hazard, said Chief John Hawkins with Riverside Calfire.

As of 9 a.m. the fire was 100 percent contained after burning 350 acres, CalFire officials said.

Firefighters tried to retrieve some items from the home in the community of La Cresta before it was hollowed out by fierce flames, aerial video showed.

Water-dropping helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and ground crews responded to the location near Tenaja and Via Volcano roads, west of the I-15 on Wednesday just before noon.

At about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, the vegetation fire was estimated at more than 100 acres. It grew to more than 200 acres by 1:15 p.m. and was at about 5 percent containment, CalFire reported.

As of about 3:30 p.m., the fire had reached 400 acres and was 20 percent contained. Aerial images showed dark black smoke billowing across the hills in the area.

In total, officials said 327 firefighters from 11 crews had battled the β€œVolcano Fire” using 39 engines, six helicopters and three bulldozers, among fire resources.

Two firefighters sustained minor, non-life threatening injuries while fighting the flames.

By 9:45 p.m., officials said the fire was at 75 percent containment.


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