A large vegetation wildfire erupted Sunday afternoon in the Highgrove area of Riverside County, a community between Riverside and San Bernardino. The incident was reported around 3:30 p.m. Sunday according to the Riverside Fire Department, with the fire initially covering 30 acres. By Sunday evening it grew to around 1350 acres, threatening around 40 homes in the area. The Fire Department labeled it the Opera Fire, and by midnight Sunday the fire was 25% contained with the number of homes threatened down to 15. As of Monday morning, the fire is 60% contained and remains at 1350 acres.
The Opera Fire isn't the only fire to have hit the Inland Empire Sunday. A few hours after the Opera Fire was reported, a fire started about 20 miles south in Temescal Valley. Dubbed the Jameson Fire, this one threatened around 15 acres according to the Riverside Fire Department. The fire didn't grow beyond 15 acres and was contained to 12.5 by midnight Sunday. The fire occurred in the hills near a large subdivision, according to the L.A. Times, but officials say no homes were threatened.
The causes of both fires remain unknown.
