9:00am FRIDAY UPDATE:
The Wildomar Fire burning west of Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, and Murrieta has burned 700 acres and is 15 percent contained as of the latest report at 9:00am Friday.
The Press-Enterprise online reports that mandatory evacuations were extended early this morning (Friday) to include some homes in La Cresta and Wildomar neighborhoods that were previously under an evacuation warning. In total, about 200 homes were evacuated and more still remain under the warning which is meant to encourage residents to leave voluntarily, or at least to start preparing in case the evacuation becomes mandatory.
There are reports that about 300 firefighters are already on the scene, as well as water dropping aircraft. The fire was started by an accidental crash involving a dirt biker in the Cleveland National Forest near Ortega Highway at about 12:30pm yesterday afternoon (Thursday). Within a couple of hours, the blaze had spread to 200 acres, and reached more than 350 acres last night. Cal fire and U.S. Forest Service authorities plan a further update later this morning.
FOR OFFICIAL INFORMATION ON THE WILDOMAR FIRE, CLICK HERE.
