Arson investigators with the Riverside Fire Department on Monday, July 22, were looking into reports that the 527-acre Hawarden brush fire that destroyed three homes on Sunday was ignited by juveniles playing with fireworks, Deputy Chief Steve McKinster said at a morning news conference.
“It’s under investigation,” McKinster said. “Not confirmed.”
Residents of Riverside’s Hawarden Hills — with two-story houses, many with pools, and about 1,500 people — were returning after evacuations were lifted from a fire that also damaged at least four homes.
The department had 21 fire engines and two hand crews, totaling about 80 firefighters, back on the lines Monday to put out hot spots. The spread of the fire was stopped, McKinster said. The weather conditions — hot and dry with winds — were expected to be the same as Sunday when firefighters chased the flames.
A crew was out to assess the damage on Monday.
The fire was reported at 1:05 p.m. in an area bordered by Alessandro Boulevard, Trautwein Road, Overlook Parkway and Victoria Avenue.
Firefighters arrived to find the flames spreading rapidly uphill, McKinster said. Water-dropping helicopters were immediately requested, he said, but he did not know when the first arrived. At one point, firefighters told dispatchers that they would not respond to trees burning unless they were near homes.
Randwick Road resident Noel Piri said he called the Fire Department as flames neared his home, but no one immediately showed up. Several calls later, firefighters arrived, but by then the house was ablaze, Piri said.
“We were taking the reports as they came in and dispatching resources to the locations as we had the availability,” McKinster said. “The fire spread was rapid, so getting resources into that area fast enough proved challenging because the fire was moving faster than we could catch up to initially.”
Riverside Fire Department Deputy Chief Steve McKinster provides an update on the Hawarden fire on July 22, 2024. McKinster said the flames moved faster than firefighters could put them out, destroying three homes and damaging at least four others on July 21. (Brian Rokos, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
He added that they would have had a chance to save the homes only if they had 50 engines immediately on the scene.
One firefighter suffered a minor ankle injury, McKinster said. No civilians were reported injured, he said.
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