A vegetation fire that broke out in Riverside County on Wednesday afternoon damaged at least one home and forced evacuations in Jurupa Valley.
A major fire was reported in the 8500 block. The planting of Yearling Way in Pedley took place at around 4pm and in about an hour it had grown to around 34 acres. By 7 pm the fire was 25% controlled
Riverside County Fire Capt. John Klingsmith Jr. said 110 firefighters were battling the blaze using 30 engines, four hand crews, two dozers and a water tender truck.
A Riverside County firefighter runs his hose down a charred hill behind a damaged home to put out a hotspot from the Yearling fire in Jurupa Valley, CA, on April 15, 2026.
(Gina Frazee/Los Angeles Times)
Two people were taken to an area hospital for possible smoke inhalation and a third was treated at the scene. No structures were destroyed, but one resident told The Times that his house was damaged in the fire.
The area from Van Buren Boulevard and Jurupa Road east to Stone Avenue toward Stone Elementary School and south to Paisano Way and Limonita Avenue is under mandatory evacuation orders.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Klingsmith said.
A Riverside County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said one person was taken into custody in connection with the fire, but was released after investigators determined they were not involved.
Jurupa Valley resident Paul Rojas said his home was damaged but is still standing thanks to the fast work of firefighters and friends.
“It was Cal Fire, Corona Fire and three of my neighbors who put out the fire with our hoses,” said Rojas, who has lived in the area for more than a decade.
Rojas was returning home after picking up his daughters from school around 4:30 p.m. when he noticed that parts of his home and property were on fire.
Although he saved his home and work studio, he said he lost a power washer, an emergency backup generator, a water tank and a log splitter gifted to him by his father, who died in 2017.
He said he ran to save a trailer that was burning and even caught fire himself before firefighters extinguished him and the vehicle.
Rojas said he also saved his vintage 1957 Chevy Bel Air.
“We used seven fire extinguishers but we saved the car, which was on a lift,” he said. “My fence was also damaged, but thanks to a respirator I had I was able to stop and fight the fire.”
