The Fairview fire, which began on Labor Day and resulted in two fatalities, jumped Sept. 9 to over 27,000 acres and is at 5 percent containment in Hemet, California.
Eleven structures have been destroyed—including residential or commercial—three structures were damaged, one person was injured, and the two deceased were reportedly fleeing from the fire and were found in a vehicle near where the fire broke out, according to the Cal Fire Riverside unit.
As of Friday, Southern Californians are preparing for a tropical storm that could bring flash floods, mudslides, and more turmoil to the state’s electric grid, which officials have been issuing “flex alerts” to conserve power. Extreme weather advisories were sent out to several communities in Riverside County, adding another hurdle for firefighters.
The National Weather Service sent out notifications Friday, placing the county under excessive heat and flash flood warnings as Tropical Storm Kay, which was formerly identified as a hurricane, got close to Baja California in Mexico.
But officials, who thought the rain could help put out the fires, are now worried the storm could bring lightning and set ablaze new fires.
“We could go from a fire suppression event into significant rain, water rescues, mudslides, debris,” Deputy Chief Jeff Veik of Riverside County Fire Department said in a press conference Thursday. “We have challenging days ahead.”
As of Thursday, evacuation orders remain in place for dozens of neighborhoods east of Hemet. Hemet Unified School District canceled classes Monday afternoon and will not return until conditions improve.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Riverside County, with other declarations including regions affected by the Mosquito Fire.
So far, the Riverside County Fire Department has deployed over 2,000 firefighters, 16 helicopters, 246 fire engines, 33 dozers, 25 water tenders, and a total of 46 crews to combat the raging fire.
Officials said Thursday evening that 18,000 homes have been threatened by the fire. A total of 18,500 residents around Hemet were notified to evacuate, but earlier in the week, Sheriff Brandi Swan said only a quarter of people were listening to the orders.
“There are plenty of people that are choosing to shelter in place,” Swan said Wednesday. “We have gone to over 3,700 homes to make notifications, and I would say maybe a quarter of those people are actually leaving.”
She said the department “begs for their cooperation” because the “fire is very unpredictable and moves very fast.”
On Monday evening, a few hours after the fire began at 3:37 p.m., firefighters were thrown off guard when winds made a 180-degree turn in the opposite direction, moving further east and forcing several regions to evacuate.
An investigation into the ignition of the fire is still underway, but Southern California Edison—the main electricity supplier for the region—claimed in a filing Sept. 6 that “circuit activity [occurred] close in time to the reported time of the fire”—indicating a possibility that the fire started from the utility’s equipment.
