Firefighters in southern California were battling three separate brush fires that started on Friday afternoon amid a blistering heatwave.
The fires were all within 40 miles (65km) of each other in mostly rural areas across Riverside county, south-east of Los Angeles.
The largest of them is the Rabbit fire which has burned 4,500 acres and is only 5% contained, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, known as CalFire. The Reche and Highland fires were less destructive, burning 437 and 105 acres respectively, but still prompted evacuation warnings as they threatened structures.
Nearly 1,000 homes were under evacuation orders, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or property loss, according to CalFire.
7/14/23: Rabbit Fire in Riverside County as viewed from the Mount David fire camera. Watch live at: https://t.co/xcXFgOuTdT #ALERTCalifornia #RabbitFire #CALFIRE #RRU pic.twitter.com/t9JDW0AUqQ
— ALERTCalifornia (@ALERTCalifornia) July 15, 2023
The Reche and Highland fires had stopped spreading by the evening. The Rabbit fire, though, grew at a “rapid rate” to more than 2 sq miles (5 sq km) in a matter of hours, Cal Fire said in a social media post.
About 280 firefighters were dispatched.
The wildfires broke out as California is facing a powerful heat dome, a warm air mass centered over the state that is trapping heat near the surface. The National Weather Service has warned residents to prepare for the hottest weather of the year as some areas could see temperatures as high as 120F (48.8C). Palm Springs is expected to reach 120F, Redding could rise to 113F (45C) and Fresno in California’s Central Valley is projected to peak at 109F (42.7C).
“We’ve been talking about this building heatwave for a week now, and now the most intense period is beginning,” the National Weather Service wrote on Friday.
California leaders warned earlier in the week about the fire danger.
“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,” the California natural resources secretary, Wade Crowfoot, said at a Wednesday news briefing.
The causes of all three fires are under investigation, CalFire said.
