The Nixon Fire, which has burned more than 5,200 acres, was started by an electrical panel, fire officials said last week.
“CAL FIRE Peace Officers, after an origin and cause investigation, determined that the cause of the fire was electrical and caused by a privately owned electrical panel,” a statement posted to social media said.
The fire was first reported July 29 at about 12:30 p.m. at the intersection of Tule Valley Road and Richard Nixon Boulevard in the unincorporated community of Aguanga and quickly grew to 4,500 acres by the following afternoon, prompting widespread evacuations.
“Currently there are approximately 1,157 structures impacted by the evacuation warning and 979 structures impacted by the evacuation order,” Tawny Castro, senior public information specialist, said in a July 29 update posted to social media.
Stay up to date with the latest from The Record. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter today!
By Thursday, fire crews were able to stop the fire from growing, holding it steady at 5,222 acres as containment increased. As of yesterday, evacuation orders were downgraded to evacuation warnings and some evacuation warnings were lifted with 82% containment reported.
“Over the last several days, firefighters have made great progress on the Nixon Fire,” Jasmine Wood, a public information officer assigned to the fire, said in an update posted to social media. “Firefighters will remain in the area to ensure that mop up is complete. We would like to thank the community for their cooperation during this time.”
At least one residential structure has been destroyed and four other structures have been damaged. There have been no injuries reported as a result of the fire.
The Riverside Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet providing Riverside County with high-quality journalism free of charge. We’re able to do this because of the generous donations of supporters like you!