High winds fuel Jurupa Valley fire, creating challenges for Franklin firefighters
Strong Santa Ana winds whipped Southern California again on Tuesday, prompting red flag warnings for large swaths of Los Angeles and Ventura counties and fueling the Jurupa Valley wildfire that ignited around 8 p.m.
The Jurupa Valley Fire, known as the Soto Fire, started at Soto Street and Sedona Avenue and had grown to 30 acres as of 9 p.m., according to the Riverside County Fire Department. Evacuation orders were issued for several nearby residential streets.
Santa Ana winds will begin to increase in the Inland Empire Tuesday afternoon, with gusts expected to exceed 40 mph overnight, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, in Malibu, strong winds created new challenges for firefighters fighting the Franklin Fire.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire had burned more than 4,000 acres and was 78% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Firefighters have prepositioned resources in case a new wave of Santa Ana winds causes the fire to spread again.
Southern California Edison warned customers in Malibu to prepare for possible power outages Tuesday night to reduce the risk of wildfires igniting. Caltrans announced that heavily trafficked Topanga Canyon Boulevard, which connects Malibu to the San Fernando Valley, was closed to nonresidents Tuesday afternoon due to wildfire danger and will remain closed during the red flag warning.
The Franklin Fire broke out last Tuesday amid a rare “particularly hazardous conditions” warning with extremely low humidity in the single digits and wind gusts as high as 75 mph. The current red flag warning is for a milder Santa Ana wind event, with gusts of 40 to 60 mph and humidity levels in the 10 to 20 percent range, according to the National Weather Service.
“The typical red flag warning is still very dangerous, but it won’t be as dry and it won’t be as windy,” said Weather Service meteorologist Carol Smith. “If a fire does occur, we still expect it to spread quickly and emerge. Extreme fire behavior.”
A red flag warning went into effect at 3 p.m. Tuesday, covering most of Ventura County and the western half of Los Angeles County. The strongest gusts are expected in the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Susana Mountains and San Gabriel Mountains.
At the height of the Franklin Fire, nearly 2,000 firefighters were deployed to extinguish the blaze. On Tuesday, 819 personnel were still dispatched to the fire, which had destroyed 20 structures and damaged 28 others, according to Cal Fire.
The agency said firefighters were focused on reinforcing fire lines in steep, rugged terrain and extinguishing small fires around structures.
