{"id":582401,"date":"2026-04-04T20:24:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/582401\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T20:24:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:24:19","slug":"crews-making-progress-containing-southern-california-wildfire-as-some-mandatory-evacuations-remain-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/582401\/","title":{"rendered":"Crews making progress containing Southern California wildfire as some mandatory evacuations remain \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Crews made progress Saturday battling a smoky wildfire in southern California that broke out a day earlier and prompted mandatory evacuations.<\/p>\n

Encompassing roughly 6.3 square miles (about 16 square kilometers) in Riverside County, about 64 miles (103 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, the Springs Fire was at least 45% percent contained on Saturday, a fire department spokesperson said. It was 25% contained on Friday.<\/p>\n

While gusts up to 45 mph (72 kph) were predicted Saturday, Terra Fernandez, public safety information specialist for the Riverside County Fire Department, said winds had \u201cdissipated a bit\u201d since Friday, helping the efforts of fire crews.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPechanga Fire Department firefighters monitor the smoky and fast-growing wildfire Springs Fire in Moreno Valley, Calif., Friday, April 3, 2026. (Terry Pierson \/The Orange County Register via AP)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re feeling confident. The winds have died down so it\u2019s assisting us in making more progress,\u201d she said. Fernandez also credited efforts to build and strengthen containment lines around the fire perimeter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have natural equestrian trails around where a lot of the structures are and so that helps our firefighters make access.\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the humidity increasing this evening will also help.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, no structures have been damaged or destroyed, Fernandez said.<\/p>\n

Crews began early Saturday dropping water and retardant all around the fire by air. About 260 personnel are battling the blaze, including crews from around the region who are building and strengthening the containment lines and laying hose, she said.<\/p>\n

Less than a dozen zones in the county remained under mandatory evacuation orders, while evacuation warnings in other parts of the county were lifted. It was not immediately known how many households were affected by the orders.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA charred field is seen after the Springs Fire in Moreno Valley, Calif., Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/p>\n

The fire is located in a populated unincorporated part of Riverside County that\u2019s a recreational area near the city of Moreno Valley, which has a population of roughly 200,000.<\/p>\n

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Crews made progress Saturday battling a smoky wildfire in southern California that broke out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-582401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}