Southern California firefighters battle 3 wildfires amid hot, dry weather

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MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters in Southern California were battling three separate brush fires that started Friday afternoon amid a blistering heat wave.

The fires were all within 40 miles (65 kilometers) of each other in mostly rural areas across Riverside County, southeast of Los Angeles.

Nearly 1,000 homes were under evacuation orders, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or property loss, according to officials from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.


The Reche Fire burns north of Steeplechase Drive and west of Mountain Ranch Road, as the fire grows to over 400 acres in Reche Canyon near Moreno Valley on Friday, July 14, 2023. (Terry Pierson/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Reche Fire burns north of Steeplechase Drive and west of Mountain Ranch Road, as the fire grows to over 400 acres in Reche Canyon near Moreno Valley on Friday, July 14, 2023. (Terry Pierson/The Orange County Register via AP)

Two of the fires had stopped spreading by the evening. The third, though, grew at a “rapid rate” to more than 2 square miles (5 square kilometers) in a matter of hours, Cal Fire said in a social media post.

Hundreds of firefighters were dispatched.

California is bracing for its hottest weather of the year so far this weekend, and Riverside County is among areas under an excessive heat warning.

Already blistering temperatures are forecast to go even higher for Nevada, Arizona and California, soaring in some desert areas above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 degrees Celsius) during the day and remaining in the 90s (above 32.2 Celsius) overnight.

California leaders warned earlier in the week about the fire danger.


A helicopter makes a water drop on the Reche Fire west of Mountain Ranch Road as the fire grows to over 400 acres in the Reche Canyon near Moreno Valley, Calif., on Friday, July 14, 2023. (Terry Pierson/The Orange County Register via AP)
A helicopter makes a water drop on the Reche Fire west of Mountain Ranch Road as the fire grows to over 400 acres in the Reche Canyon near Moreno Valley, Calif., on Friday, July 14, 2023. (Terry Pierson/The Orange County Register via AP)

“As we get deeper into the summer and vegetation that grew up during the wet spring dries out, we are seeing an uptick in wildfire activity,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said at a Wednesday news briefing.

The causes of all three fires are under investigation, Cal Fire said.