CALIMESA (CNS) - A brush fire sparked by a trash truck near Interstate 10 in Calimesa killed a woman, destroyed 76 mobile homes and blackened 832 acres before crews got it marginally contained on Friday.
The blaze was reported at 1:58 p.m. Thursday at Sandalwood Drive and Seventh Street, near the Interstate 10 exit ramp, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
"This was a very rapidly moving fire,'' county fire Division Chief Todd Hopkins said during a late morning news briefing in Beaumont. "It started when a trash truck caught fire, and the burning trash was jettisoned out the back of the vehicle. As of now, we are trying to contain the fire, but we are challenged with the weather and winds. We're still concerned with the potential the fire may have.''
Flames from the burni
