Evacuation orders have been issued for residents near Murrieta as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire that's scorched 700 acres and only 15% contained.
Officials ordered some residents in the community of La Cresta to leave as the Wildomar fire burned nearby. Other residents are under evacuation warnings, and are preparing to evacuate at a moment's notice. About 200 homes have been evacuated according to authorities.
Those evacuation warnings include residents who live in the following areas:
- Lakeland Village Community area west of Grand Avenue
- North of McVicar Street and south of Akley Street in Lake Elsinore and Wildomar
- the gated community of Bear Creek in Murrieta, Cal Fire reported.
Warnings were also ordered for a few other streets in La Cresta including:
- Avenida Castilla,
- Via Caballos,
- Calle De Suenos,
- Sierra Maria Road,
- Vista Flora Road,
- Teich Lane,
- Valle Vista,
- Via Sevilla,
- Paseo De Flores
- Paseo Chapparo
The blaze was reported around 12:30pm on Thursday in the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness area just south of the Ortega (74) Highway and Main Divide Road.
The area is close to the Cleveland National Forest where scattered ranch homes can be found. Several horse trailers were spotted moving animals out of the area according to ABC 7.
Cal Fire says a series of water drops were performed overnight and into the morning, which helped bring the fire to 15 percent containment. Firefighters were also setting backfires in an effort to gain control over the blaze.
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in Wildomar on Friday are expected to reach a high of 94 degrees with 46% humidity.
No injuries have been reported