Wildfires burn 1,500 acres in steamy SoCal

RIVERSIDE, Calif., July 16 (UPI) -- Hundreds of Southern California firefighters were battling three blazes Friday that scorched more than 1,500 acres in a 10-square-mile area, authorities said.

The wildfires, all ignited by lightning Thursday in Riverside County, about 160 miles southeast of Los Angeles, were not growing, The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise reported. Only the smallest, the 70-acre Saddle Fire, was more than 50 percent contained by Friday morning,

The 970-acre Skinner Fire was 10 percent contained and the 490-acre Cactus Fire 30 percent contained, the Press-Enterprise reported.

"We made significant progress overnight," Riverside County Fire Department Capt. Fernando Herrera said. "All our forces are concentrating on securing the perimeters and putting out ... hot spots."

The Thursday thunderstorm sparked 22 fires in southwest Riverside County, in the grip of a Southern California heat wave that has brought triple-digit temperatures and high humidity. Highs reached at least 102 Friday and forecasts called for temperatures as high as 103 Saturday.

KTLA-TV, Los Angeles, reported mandatory evacuations had been ordered in Hemet but were changed to voluntary Thursday night and lifted by Friday.

Two sheriff's deputies suffered minor smoke inhalation and another sustained a slight burn while rescuing a woman from a structure as brush burned near Lake Elsinore, the Los Angeles Times reported.