Evacuation orders lifted as Chico fire near held to 20 acres

Evacuation orders for 24 homes near Lake Mathews in Riverside County were lifted at 4:55 p.m. and residents in the area were allowed to return home after a brush fire ignited in the area Monday afternoon.

The residents had been displaced after a brush fire erupted just after 1:30 p.m., Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department officials said on Twitter, and evacuation orders caused by the

Chico fire came about an hour later.

Crews made quick progress in slowing the fire’s growth, holding it to 20 acres of dry foothills, with the aid of at least two air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter. The blaze’s spread was halted by 4 p.m. although there was no containment on the fire at that time, according to Cal Fire/ Riverside.

The evacuation orders were in place for residents of a mobile home park east of Gavilan Road, south of

Esperanza Drive, west of Piedras and north of Idaleona Road, Cal Fire/Riverside Capt. Richard Cordova said.

California Highway Patrol officers temporarily closed Gavilan Road, between Cajalco and Idaleona.

A firefighter suffered what appeared to be minor injuries, Cordova said. But no other people were hurt, and no structures were damaged as of 3:30 p.m.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, according to Cal Fire/Riverside.