Highland fire growing at 'critical rate of spread'; structures destroyed, evacuations ordered

A fire burning near Aguanga and Palomar Mountain on the southern edge of Riverside County reached 1,219 acres Monday evening as heavy winds continue to batter Southern California.

The vegetation fire was first reported to be burning in an area of vegetation near the intersection of Highlands and Aguanga Ranchos, east of Aguanga. CalFire initially reported that the fire was 14 acres but says it has since grown to 1,219 acres with 0% containment. As of around 8 p.m., the fire continues to grow at a "critical rate of spread," according to a CalFire spokesperson.

"This is definitely a wind-driven fire and the topography of where it's at is very hilly," said Maggie Cline De La Rosa, a public information officer with CalFire. "We're seeing wind sustained between 20 to 30 miles per hour and gusts up to 40 miles per hour, and that's definitely hampering (containment efforts)."

Firefighters are currently working to keep the fire away from structures in the area. So far, three structures have been destroyed and six damaged.

Evacuation orders have been issued in the Aguanga area near the intersection of State Route 79 and State Route 371. The evacuation order is in effect south of Sage/Golden Eagle Drive, east of Becker Lane, west of Boulder Vista, and north of Cottonwood Creek. Around 7 p.m., evacuation orders were expanded to also include areas south of State Route 371, west of Sorenson Road, and north of County Line Road.

An evacuation warning has been issued for the area east of Vail Lake Resort, west of Shirley Way, north of David Street, and south of Pueblo Road/Exa Ely Road. Evacuation warnings were later expanded west of the Cahuilla Reservation and north of County Line Road.

A care and reception center is available at Great Oak High School, located at 32555 Deer Hollow Way in Temecula. San Jacinto Animal Shelter is also open for large animals, at 581 S. Grand Avenue in San Jacinto.

State Route 79 is closed between Sage Road and the San Diego County line, and Sage Road is closed at Wilson Valley Road. Riverside Sheriff's Department asked drivers to avoid the area in a social media post.

Windy weather to continue in area through Wednesday

It has been relatively windy in the Aguanga area recently, with the National Weather Service weather station located to the south in Oak Grove reporting winds of up to 10 mph and gusts of up to 19 mph over the past few hours. A 37 mph gust was also measured by the weather service at around 8 a.m. on Monday. The recent windy conditions Aguanga and much of the rest of the region have been experiencing since Friday are expected to continue through Wednesday, with breezes of up to 25 mph possible on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

The San Gorgonio Pass has seen some of the windiest weather of all with the National Weather Service recording a 72 mph gust in Banning early Monday and a 50 mph one in Cabazon around noon.

The service said Friday that the strong, dry winds were interacting with the dry vegetation in many areas to produce "critical fire weather" and was urging residents to exercise extreme caution when handling anything that could cause fire. However, the CalFire spokesperson said the fire near Aguanga was the only significant one currently burning in Riverside County.

This is a developing story.

City News Service contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Highland fire: What to know about size, weather, closures, evacuations