A massive fire dubbed the Verona Fire broke out in the Juniper Springs area of Riverside County, California on Tuesday. The blaze was reportedly visible from Hemet, Temecula, and Menifee. As per WatchDuty, the fire broke out near Juniper Springs Road and Verona Lane and is currently at 175 acres.
An level 3 evacuation order was issued for zones RVC-1185, RVC-1186, RVC-1187 & RVC-1285. This means that people in the said zones were asked to leave immediately. An evacuation warning was in place for HMT-1189, HMT-1292, RVC-1076 & RVC-1077 zones as per WatchDuty. A map of the impacted areas was shared as well.
The blaze was visible from several nearby areas including Hemet, Menifee and Temecula.
Verona Fire: Scary visuals from Hemet, Temecula, Menifee
An update from a local Hemet page read “Verona Road / Juniper Springs Road in community of Homeland. Firefighters are on-scene of approximately five acres burning at a moderate to dangerous rate of spread. Additional ground and air resources have been requested.” It shared a photo where smoke was visible in the distance.
Meanwhile, a local Menifee page wrote “The Verona Fire, as seen from southeast Menifee. We will post updates as we get them. As stated earlier, this is a vegetation fire near Juniper Springs and Verona Lane, north of Highway 74 and east of Briggs Road. Evacuation orders have been requested for the Four Seasons Golf Course.” They also shared a photo.
As per reports the fire was visible from Temecula as well. A person who claimed to be from there, wrote “Been through plenty of them living in rural Temecula & Menifee – it’s always scary esp when you have livestock like rescued horses, pigs & ducks”.
A local page shared more photos and wrote about the alleged actions of a man who tried to help people in the areas nearby.
“According to neighbors at the scene, Andrew allegedly began running door-to-door warning residents that flames were rapidly approaching nearby homes and urging families to evacuate the area. Witnesses say he then jumped fences, grabbed garden hoses from nearby homes, and began actively fighting the flames himself in an attempt to slow the fire’s spread until firefighters arrived. Residents say his quick actions helped save at least one mobile home and a chicken coop full of chickens from being destroyed by the fire,” the page said.
“During his efforts battling the flames, Andrew reportedly suffered burns to his legs due to the intense heat and fire conditions. Despite being injured, witnesses say he continued helping residents and fighting the advancing flames until firefighters arrived and took over operations,” it added.
