The San Francisco Chronicle and the LA Times are reporting that two Riverside County sheriff’s deputies were injured when they rescued a woman from a burning trailer in a brush fire in Lake Elsinore, California. One was treated for smoke inhalation, and the other suffered burns on his arm. The woman was transported to a hospital, but the extent of her injuries are unknown.
A series of thunderstorms with lightning passed through southern California Thursday evening, starting numerous wildfires. In addition to the fire near Lake Elsinore, two other fires in the Temecula and Hemet areas had burned several hundred acres each by late afternoon, but additional thunderstorm cells were headed toward the fires and were likely to dump some rain on them around sunset.
UPDATE @ 8:20 p.m. PT, July 15:
After all aircraft had been released from the fire near Hemet at dark, Air attack estimated the size of that fire, named the Cactus fire, to be “375 acres plus”.
