2 Wildfires Force Thousands to Flee

Firefighters on Tuesday struggled to contain two wildfires that consumed about 15,000 acres and forced thousands of residents on the outskirts of Corona and Temecula to flee their homes.

Erratic winds hampered efforts to control the blazes, though forecasters predicted that the heat wave that has gripped Southern California will end today, giving firefighters a boost.

The biggest fire, a 10,500-acre blaze southeast of Corona, forced the evacuation of 4,000 homes east of Interstate 15. The fire destroyed three abandoned homes--including two mobile homes -- and three other buildings. Authorities arrested a man who allegedly started the fire by unwittingly dragging a steel plate behind his truck, sending sparks flying into dry vegetation.

A pall of brown and gray smoke hung over the area Tuesday as firefighters chased legs of the fire -- dubbed the Cerrito fire -- up chaparral-covered canyons and residents nervously awaited word about their homes.

Dave McGregor of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, who had been working with other firefighters to build a containment line, said the challenge is daunting. “This is the front line right here,” he said. “It goes on for miles and miles.”

The Eagle fire, a 4,800-acre blaze southeast of Temecula, destroyed 14 homes, several in an artist colony north of the Cleveland National Forrest. Fire officials have ordered the evacuation of several homes and mobile home parks. Investigators are not certain what sparked the fire but are searching for three motorcycle riders who were seen in the area.

No residents have been hurt in the two fires, but at least 10 firefighters suffered minor injuries, including heat exhaustion.

Several residents in the new development of Gavilan Springs narrowly escaped the advancing Cerrito fire. Gordon Duncan and his family thought they were safe until a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy ordered them to leave late Monday night.

“It was just a wall of flames coming over the hill to our house,” said Duncan, 40, who, aided by friends, “grabbed the bird, the dog, mom and the kids” and fled.

Although the flames spared the Duncan home and their neighbors, Duncan’s wife, Maribel, 38, sobbed as she recalled packing up pictures and paintings to save from the fire. “It’s hard when they tell you to leave your home,” she said.

The Cerrito fire continued to threaten about 800 homes in the tiny town of Good Hope late Tuesday night.

Hours earlier, residents had fled from Good Hope when a shift in winds drove the flames toward them so quickly that authorities acknowledged they did not have time to issue evacuation orders.

“Nothing, nothing, they did nothing, they told us nothing. Now we are running,” said Teresa Covilan, 38, before speeding away with a van full of family members and their dogs.

But firefighters arrived in force just as the fire reached the edges of town and were able to knock down the blaze

Riverside County officials declared a local emergency Tuesday, saying the high temperatures and low humidity were making conditions difficult for firefighters.

“We are having a lot of devastation taking place,” said Supervisor Jim Venable.

Meteorologists predicted that high temperatures and low humidity would give way by Thursday to cooler weather and morning and evening fog. Temperatures that soared to 104 degrees Monday are expected to drop to the high 70s and low 80s by Thursday. Firefighters can also expect winds to remain relatively light for the next few days.

“The good news is the extreme heat is a thing of the past, for a little while,” said Tom Carlson, a meteorologist for Weather Data Inc., which provides weather information for The Times.

By Tuesday -- the second day of this year’s fire season -- firefighters had already won battles with several smaller brush fires. Firefighters had extinguished a 375-acre fire near Lake Elsinore, dubbed the Gafford fire, and controlled a 377-acre blaze near Aguanga in south Riverside County, known as the School fire.

Heavy smoke from the nearly extinguished Aguanga fire forced 210 students from Cottonwood Elementary School on Sage Road to evacuate by bus to Hamilton High School in Anza late Tuesday morning.

Firefighters had also extinguished a 50-acre fire in Castaic in Northern Los Angeles County. Another fire -- called the India fire -- that grew to about 1,800 acres in a training area in the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base in San Diego County was nearly contained Tuesday.

Authorities have already determined that the biggest fire of this year’s season was ignited by mistake.

Police arrested Richard Drew Brown, 44, late Monday on suspicion of recklessly causing the Cerrito fire by dragging a large piece of steel chained behind his truck on Mayhew Road near Interstate 15, Riverside County Fire Department spokesman Rick Vogt said.

Witnesses reported that the piece of steel, estimated at eight feet long, was bouncing on the asphalt, causing sparks that shot into a brush-covered area off the road and igniting the fire.

Vogt said authorities don’t believe Brown intentionally started the fire but said recklessness left him “criminally liable.”

Although the fires were not stoked by gusting Santa Ana winds that typically blow through Southern California in the fall, firefighters said, shifting winds were playing havoc with the fires.

“It’s been tough to fight because of the hot weather, the rugged terrain, and it was difficult when the wind was pushing the fire,” said Capt. Steve Diaz of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Firefighters worried that gusting winds could push the Cerrito fire southeast toward the communities of Good Hope, Mead Valley and Meadowbrook, north of Lake Elsinore.

“We have a real sense of urgency,” said CDF division chief Byron Darrington. “We just need to get a containment line around this fire.”

To protect those homes, firefighters used bulldozers to connect a network of dirt roads, creating a line they hoped would slow the blaze.

The Eagle fire, east of Temecula, also sent residents in the community of Rancho California fleeing for safety. Nearly 1,200 firefighters used bulldozers and water-dropping helicopters to try to slow the flames.

Tonie and Jack Breeding had to pack up more than just a few pictures and paintings when the fire came within 200 feet of their home on Pauba Road Tuesday morning.

The couple are parents of six, ages 4 to 22, and owners of 50 animals, including horses, goats, emus, chickens, ducks, dogs and cats.

“We took the stuff we can’t replace,” said Jack Breeding.

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Times staff writers Lance Pugmire and Seema Mehta contributed to this story.