A small brush fire burned about four acres in the hills south of a Mead Valley neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon, underscoring concerns about wildfire risk as Cal Fire announced the closure of several popular hiking and off-roading trails across Riverside County.
Fire officials said the blaze did not threaten homes, aided by relatively mild temperatures and light winds. Still, authorities say the fire reflects the kind of incident they hope to prevent through proactive trail closures that take effect Friday.
Cal Fire Riverside County Public Information Officer Jasmine Wood said the decision is driven by increasingly dangerous conditions on the ground…