Above: The Wildomar Fire burns toward the east. Screen grab from KTLA live video at 3:57 p.m. PDT October 26, 2017.
(Updated at e5:12 p.m. PDT, October 26, 2017)
(Friday morning October 27 we published an updated article on the Wildomar Fire.)
The Wildomar Fire that started early Thursday afternoon is threatening structures south of Lake Elsinore, California. The Cleveland National Forest reported that it had burned about 200 acres by 3:30 p.m. PDT. It is burning toward the northeast primarily in brush and at 4:10 p.m. it had approached the South Main Divide Road which runs toward the south from the Ortega Highway near the top of the slope west of Wildomar.
Evacuations have been ordered for the Hixon Truck Trail area.
On the live video feed from KTLA we watched one of the DC-10 Very Large Air Tankers drop retardant near the base of the slope just above residences several hundred feet away from the fire. Other air tankers and CAL FIRE helicopters are also assisting firefighters.
The weather station at El Cariso a few miles north of the fire recorded temperatures Wednesday afternoon around 90, humidity about 10 percent, and winds out of the southwest at 12 mph — conditions conducive to significant fire spread.
We will update this article as more information becomes available.
Ah yes, where it all began, seriously, be careful, folks, it’s late October, but still burning real good from the looks of it.