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Fire Sep 12, 2022
Courtesy of Jay Heike
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A five-alarm blaze that erupted Monday in a pile of pallets and cardboard boxes adjacent to a warehouse on the boundary separating Riverside and Moreno Valley scorched about 10 acres and threatened the building but did not reach the interior.
The blaze was reported about 1:30 p.m. at 22000 Opportunity Way, just west of Interstate 215, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The agency said that multiple engine crews and truck companies from the county, city of Riverside, March Air Reserve Base, Corona Fire Department and Murrieta Fire & Rescue converged on the location within minutes and encountered heavy smoke and flames threatening the warehouse.
More than 100 personnel were on the fire lines.
Initially, the blaze was declared a two-alarm emergency, but it was ultimately elevated to a five-alarm when the flames extended to a wall on the south side of the commercial structure, according to reports from the scene.
As of 3 p.m., firefighters were working to contain the blaze to the pallets and boxes.
One firefighter suffered a heat- and smoke-related injury and was taken to nearby Riverside University Medical Center for treatment of the non-life-threatening injuries.
Because of heavy black smoke drifting over I-215, the California Highway Patrol considered lane closures for public safety on both the south- and northbound sides of the freeway between Cactus Avenue and Van Buren Boulevard, a roughly quarter-mile stretch.
The CHP determined that the visibility reduction was not sufficient to warrant closures.
