A brush fire that officials said was accidentally caused by heavy equipment continued its relentless march Wednesday, destroying multiple homes as it pressed into Riverside County, prompting more evacuation warnings and some school closures.
The so-called Airport Fire began about 1 p.m. Monday near Trabuco Canyon Road in the area of the remote-controlled airplane airport, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Sean Doran.
Video from AIR7 showed several homes in the mountain area west of Lake Elsinore were burned to the ground, though the total number of residences that were destroyed was not immediately known.
As of Tuesday afternoon the blaze had expanded to 10,000 acres, officials said. By Wednesday morning, Cal Fire reported it grew to 22,376 acres.
“It has crested the north main divide and gone into Riverside County,” Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said Tuesday.
Aerial video from AIR7 showed the charred remnants of multiple homes that were destroyed by the Airport Fire burning near the border of Orange and Riverside counties.