A fast-moving, smoky wildfire Friday in windy Southern California sent residents scrambling as multiple evacuation orders and warnings were issued.
The Springs Fire broke out at around 11 a.m. Friday, and by the evening had grown to about 5.47 square miles (14.17 square kilometers). Fire crews had started working to contain it, though it’s still early enough that a lot remains unclear on how far it may spread next. The cause of the fire, which started east of Moreno Valley in Riverside County, is under investigation.
The wind is a big part of the story here—maybe the biggest. The fire was burning in a populated, but not densely so, unincorporated area of Riverside County, near the city of Moreno Valley, a place with a population of roughly 200,000. Moreno Valley sits 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Riverside and 64 miles (103 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. In other words, not far from where people still feel like they’re close enough to see what’s happening—close enough to worry.
Maggie Cline De La Rosa, a public information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in Riverside County, said, “It’s windy out there.” And it showed. Alex Izaguirre, a spokesperson for Cal Fire Riverside County, said the wind is “spreading the smoke,” prompting concerned calls from residents in neighboring cities who can see and smell the smoke. One moment people were going about their day, and the next—well, it’s that smell that sticks first. Not just the haze you can look at, but the way smoke settles in the back of your throat.
The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for San Bernardino and Riverside County valleys through Saturday afternoon, with gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) expected. The advisory warned that “Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.” If that happens, it complicates everything—access for crews, power to critical infrastructure, and even just how safely residents can move.
Misryoum newsroom reported that it was not immediately known how many households are under evacuation warnings or orders. Still, the fact that officials moved quickly with alerts tells you the fire’s speed is not theoretical. As night fell, the size—about 5.47 square miles—didn’t sound huge on paper, but in the way wildfires behave when the wind keeps pushing, “growing fast” is the kind of phrase that can turn into a much more urgent headline in a hurry. And with gusts hanging over the region through Saturday afternoon, crews and residents will have to keep watching the smoke line, because that’s where the danger seems to begin—again.
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