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Firefighters, residents get lucky with Horseshoe fire

by in News

Firefighters took advantage of favorable winds and fought fire with fire against a weekend blaze that forced a couple of hundred evacuations in San Jacinto as flames drew dangerously close to homes.

The Horseshoe fire that broke out Saturday evening in the Juniper Flats area east of Nuevo in Riverside County was up to 490 acres and 30% contained by Sunday at 6:30 p.m. But even with the winds picking up speed, the fire had become tame enough for residents to return to neighborhoods.

“Today we got some strong, slightly gusty winds. But we’re so much ahead of the fire that it is not going to create a problem,” Cal Fire-Riverside County Capt. Fernando Herrera said.

“If we had this wind yesterday, it would have been a different story.”

  • A Cal Fire/San Diego Engine 3377 firefighter hoses down hot spots on the second day of the Horseshoe fire above Sugar Loaf Lane in Nuevo on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • Cal Fire/San Diego Engine 3387 firefighters work on a steep and rough hillside to hose down hot spots on day 2 of the Horseshoe fire above Sugar Loaf Lane in Nuevo on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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  • A inmate brush crew stands atop a hill above after clearing hot spots on day 2 of the Horseshoe fire above Sugar Loaf Lane in Nuevo on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • A inmate brush crew works to clear the steep and rough terrain of fire dangers on day 2 of the Horseshoe fire above Aswut Circle near Awaal Street in San Jacinto on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • Cal Fire/San Diego Engine 3377 firefighter Jarod Baker, right points out header near Lake Perris as the brush crew hoses down hot spots on day 2 of the Horseshoe fire in San Jacinto on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • A Cal Fire/San Diego Engine 3377 firefighter stands on top of a boulder hosing down hot spots on day 2 of the Horseshoe fire above Sugar Loaf Lane in Nuevo on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • Cal Fire helicopter 301 makes a pass over a the rough terrain on day 2 of the Horseshoe fire as brush crews mop up hot spots above Aswut Circle near Awaal Street in San Jacinto on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • Cal Fire/Riverside firefighters work on the steep and rough hillside to hose down hot spots on day 2 of the Horseshoe fire above Aswut Circle in San Jacinto on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • Cal Fire/San Diego Engine 3377 firefighters work on the steep and rough hillside to hose down hot spots on day 2 of the Horseshoe fire above Sugar Loaf Lane in Nuevo on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • Cal Fire helicopter 301 makes a pass over the rough terrain on day 2 of the Horseshoe fire as smoke billows from the hill top above Aswut Circle near Awaal Street in San Jacinto on Sunday, Sep 15, 2019. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • The Horseshoe fire near Nuevo and San Jacinto in Riverside County burned through the night of Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019. (ONSCENE.TV)

  • The Horseshoe fire near Nuevo and San Jacinto in Riverside County burned through the night of Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019. (LoudLabs News)

  • A brush fire burned through heavy fuels in the Riverside County community of Juniper Flats on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019. This photo shows the blaze from San Jacinto. (Courtesy of Tim Anderson)

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Firefighters had to set up backyard defenses for a few homes in The Cove community in San Jacinto. In other places, the blaze was 1,000 to 2,000 yards from structures, Herrera said.

In the end, no buildings were lost and no injuries were reported.

The mandatory evacuations, which ended about 2:20 p.m. Sunday, were called about 7:20 p.m. Saturday. About 200 residents in 60 homes in The Cove development were ordered to get out.

“We did a lot of fire operations — fight fire with fire. We had a lot of advantage because the wind was pushing the fire toward itself,  so we used that,” Herrera said of the overnight strategy.

“There was one road where the fire did come down fairly close, and we were already set up to do structure defense there,” Herrera said. The mix of less-dense grass and boulders near the lower elevations — where the homes are located — also helped.

On Sunday, firefighters attacked islands of fire that broke out within the burn area in upper elevations, well above The Cove, Herrera said. Some 235 firefighters, along with one helicopter and two air tankers, were on scene.

The cause of the fire, which started shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday in the 21000 block of Stagecoach Trail in Juniper Flats, remained under investigation, Herrera said.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued an advisory for Sunday and Monday, saying light winds from the southwest could transport smoke into San Jacinto, Beaumont, Calimesa, Banning and Cabazon.

 

Future advisories can be found here.

(Courtesy South Coast Air Quality Management District).

Derrick Smith lives in one of the homes at The Cove that were especially vulnerable to the fire.

Smith watched firefighters save his house on Saturday night. He observed them through an online connection with the home’s security cameras. He, his daughter and son-in-law, along with his grandbaby and three dogs, had evacuated around 8 p.m.

“It got pretty scary for a minute,” he said.

The family took shelter at Tahquitz High School in Hemet. As Smith watched online, he saw a firetruck in his driveway.

Derrick Smith on Sunday stands in the backyard of the house that he and his family evacuated on Saturday night. (Photo by Richard K. De Atley, Press Enterprise/SCNG)

“I could see them going through the backyard with hoses and axes, and I thought, ‘Uh-oh, what are the axes for?’ ” he said Sunday, standing in front of the spared home.

The firefighters got into the backyard by cutting the latch on a padlocked gate, then went to work. Around midnight, Smith said, the power failed and so did the Wi-Fi.

Smith said the fire had not climbed over the hill when he and his family got out. But shortly after that, he said, it did make its way over the hilltop and moved toward the houses along Old Oak Circle.

On Sunday, however, they all were safe. Firefighters stopped the blaze with hoses before it could reach Smith’s backyard fence.

“It pays to keep your brush down,” he added.

Separately on Sunday, a new wildfire started southeast of Hemet in the San Jacinto Mountains and was generating smoke seen around the region.