PERRIS – (INT) – Fire fighters beat back a wildfire that threatened to burn into the city of Perris Saturday.

Flames initially crested a series of hills west of Nuevo and were then pushed southward by increasing winds.

Two air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter stopped the forward spread of the fire in about 2-hours. Ninety fire fighters responded and declared containment in less than 5-hours.

The flames blackened about 96 acres. There were no reports of damage to structures.

Dubbed the ‘Orange’ fire, it appeared to have started in a field near the east end of Orange Avenue and burned close to several homes. Calfire did not report any evacuations.

The fire was the third in the immediate area in the past few weeks.

An investigator was assigned to seek the cause.

On June 27th, another fire not far away near Nuevo covered 20 acres.

Story Date: July 16, 2019