Homes evacuated during 43-acre Garbani Fire

The Garbani Fire started in vegetation on the south hillside, north of a large meadow and Wickerd Road. (Staff photos)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Firefighters established a perimeter around a 43-acre brushfire in a rural area south of Paloma Valley High School and stopped its forward progress in a little more than two hours Tuesday.

The fire, dubbed the Garbani Fire, was reported at 12:55 p.m. in the 26000 block of Garbani Road, in the hills east of Menifee Valley Middle School and south of Paloma Valley High School. The first reported flames ran up the south side of the hills before crossing over to the north and east hillside, where homes were threatened. But by 3:30 p.m. there was no remaining sign of flames or smoke. There were no reports of damaged structures or of injuries.

The hillside area is sparsely populated, but housing developments stand to the north, east and west. Narrow dirt roads and hills make access more difficult, but multiple fire engines soon battled the flames from the hilltop and water drops were made by plane and helicopter.

At about 1:30 p.m., Cal Fire issued evacuation orders for the areas north of Wickerd Road, east of Murrieta Road, south of Craig Avenue and west of Haun Road. Onlookers parked on Craig Avenue across the street from the high school to view the fire, and others sought vantage points from dirt hillside roads before Menifee Police began to close entries into the area.

The evacuation order was lifted at 4:45 p.m., according to Cal Fire. "Citizens can make their way back to their homes, but please stay vigilant and continue to monitor for updates. Drive carefully through the area as fire personnel will be working for several more hours," according to a Twitter post.

Cause of the fire is under investigation.

This view looking north from Wickerd Road shows a home close to the flames. It was not damaged.

 As seen from Evans Road to the west, the fire burns itself out on the south hill but heads over the hilltop.

 This view from Craig Avenue shows firefighters protecting homes on the north side of the hills.

 An air tanker was soon on the scene to drop fire retardant on the hillsides.

 A water truck wets down a dry section of Wickerd Road just west of Haun Road.