Brush fire covers 72 acres in rural section of Perris

Firefighters Tuesday night announced 80 percent containment of a brush fire that had covered 72 acres near Highway 74 and Ellis Avenue in Perris, officials said.

The fire was first reported at 3:34 p.m. in the 17000 block of McPherson Road. The first arriving fire chief reported one acre burning "at a dangerous rate of speed." The fire had spread to 72 acres by 6:20 p.m. and had damaged one greenhouse in the mostly rural area of fields and horse properties. One firefighter was transported to a local hospital with minor heat related symptoms.

This is the latest in a series of fires in Perris, Menifee and Murrieta over the last eight days. Officials have not reported any connection between the fires, except a series of spot fires along the 215 Freeway in Murrieta July 15 that a fire investigator attributed to a malfunctioning vehicle that possibly threw hot fragments into the brush.