At least four homes have now been reported as lost in the Highland fire that burned for a third day Wednesday, Nov. 1, in the rural southwest Riverside County community of Aguanga.
Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department said seven structures have been destroyed and six have been damaged. Officials said they did not know yet how many were homes. According to the latest update Wednesday, 2,487 acres had burned and the fire was 15% contained.
Containment refers to the percentage of a fire’s perimeter that has been surrounded by a control line or natural barriers such as a pond that officials believe the flames will not cross.
George and Lucila Boyles believed that the flames were a safe distance away on Monday, but after several shifts in wind direction, their home for the past 15 years burned down.
Wednesday, three other homes were reported destroyed in postings on GoFundMe that were verified by that website’s officials:
• Mike Doehr lost his home, including his antique firearms collection, two storage barns full of tools, a Ford F-250 pickup and a 1969 Pontiac Firebird, according to his sister, Patty Forst.
• A home where Cody Boney was raising his daughters, ages 4 and 6, and was caring for a disabled family friend, burned down, according to the man’s brother, Trever Boney.
• A large family had to evacuate quickly and left behind basic necessities such as clothes when their home burned down, according to relative Angelina Quinonez.
Messages were left for those families through GoFundMe seeking additional details.
Justin McGough, a spokesman for the Riverside County incident command, said the fire grew overnight into Wednesday, particularly in the area east of Highway 371 and north of Highway 79. But fire officials were able to get ground crews in there to hose down the flames.
McGough said evacuations are still necessary even though there isn’t much smoke in the air. Among the issues are downed electrical lines lines and power poles and damaged guardrails.
“We are still actively engaged in establishing our control lines,” McGough said in a video briefing.
He added that law enforcement is patrolling the area to prevent looting.
#HighlandFire 11/1/2023 | Day Operations Section Chief, Justin McGough, provides an update on the Highland Fire:
Evacuation Map: https://t.co/PDAXaQ7bZl
CAL FIRE/RVC Fire: https://t.co/zegCDxU27r
Alert RivCo: https://t.co/yk1azX1up8 pic.twitter.com/OqfKS8MoAS
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) November 1, 2023
Although the gusty Santa Ana winds that dried out the light grasses and medium-sized shrubs in the area have subsided, fire officials remain concerned that winds out of the east will contribute to low humidity in vegetation and erratic fire behavior through Thursday night, pushing flames to the west and southwest.
Some 1,300 firefighters are working the blaze and are challenged by steep and rugged terrain.
Evacuation orders and warnings remained in effect Wednesday but were modified in the afternoon. Follow Cal Fire’s Riverside County Unit on X, formerly Twitter, for updates at @calfirerru.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, Cal Fire said.
Information on creating an evacuation plan can be found at readyforwildfire.org.