Containment of a 5,192-acre wildfire in the southern reaches of Riverside County and near the border with San Diego County increased Thursday to 14%.
The Nixon Fire experienced moderate weather throughout the day Wednesday, according to a statement from Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department. Crews continue to go direct with handline construction and hose lays on the southeast portion of the fire toward the Beauty Mountain Wilderness area.
The blaze erupted about 12:30 p.m. Monday in the area of Richard Nixon Boulevard and Tule Peak Road, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency reported that numerous engine and hand crews — numbering more than 250 personnel — from the county, Cal Fire-San Diego County and other agencies were sent to the location and encountered flames burning at a "dangerous rate" to the southeast through medium brush.
Overnight the fire experienced minimal activity with no additional growth, Cal Fire and the RCFD reported on social media at 8:20 a.m. Thursday. Interior pockets of fuel will continue to burn over the next several days as firefighters gain additional control, they said.
Moisture will increase through Friday as monsoonal flows develop over the fire area, with a chance of producing thunderstorms and lightning, the fire agencies said.
One flank of the fire briefly crossed into San Diego County, blackening about two open acres before firefighters extinguished that section of flames, according to Cal Fire.
The proximity of the blaze to that corner of the San Diego area prompted sheriff's officials to warn residents of sparsely populated areas northeast of Oak Grove to prepare to evacuate on short notice if necessary.
Due to the growth of the #NixonFire burning in Riverside County, an EVACUATION WARNING is being issued for portions of Northern #SanDiegoCounty (yellow areas) seen in the map below.
— San Diego Sheriff (@SDSheriff) July 31, 2024
Residents in these areas should be prepared to evacuate should fire conditions change.
An… https://t.co/ADlIDZ3mem pic.twitter.com/TJfSMXoowq
Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, a former firefighter, asked Riverside County Fire Department Chief Bill Weiser at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting if containment efforts might be complicated because of federal restrictions on using heavy machinery, such as bulldozers, to battle blazes in protected areas.
Weiser said he did not anticipate problems, and coordination with Bureau of Land Management administrators was "good."
At the height of the fire, seven Cal Fire air tankers and four water- dropping helicopters were making runs on it. On Tuesday, aircraft were only required for targeted operations.
Four structures were damaged and one was destroyed Tuesday afternoon, but it was still unclear whether those were only sheds and outbuildings, or may have included homes. There are 900 structures threatened, according to Cal Fire. No injuries have been reported.
An evacuation order was implemented for the scattered homes south of Highway 371, north of the county line, west of Terwilliger Road and east of Foolish Pleasure Road.
An evacuation center was established at Temecula Valley High School. However, county Emergency Management Department Director Bruce Barton told the board there was no one utilizing the space, which is being managed by the Red Cross and Department of Public Social Services.
Shortly after 4 p.m. Monday, the blaze spread into the 2,300-acre burn scar from the Bonny Fire that crews battled for over a week last July and August in Aguanga. Weiser said the scar was aiding in slowing the growth of the brusher because there was less fuel to feed it.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
