Clay Fire erupts in Santa Ana River bottom in Riverside County, structures threatened

Firefighters in Riverside County are battling a wildfire that erupted in a Santa Ana river bottom Tuesday night.  

The Clay Fire, which was first reported at 5 p.m. near the intersection of Van Buren Boulevard and Clay Street in Jurupa Valley, began as a two-acre vegetation fire, though moved at a slow rate of spread into heavy brush and grew to nearly 40 acres, according to an alert from Cal Fire.

Initially, the flames, which could be seen from the City of Riverside, were not threatening any structures as the blaze burned parallel to nearby homes, but as flames moved westward, several structures downwind were reportedly in danger, according to the wildfire tracking website Watch Duty.  

So far, no evacuation orders or warnings have been issued.  

Crews on the scene have requested at least 10 additional fire engines, dozers and a night flying helicopter for water drops as hand crews attempt to gain containment of the flames.  

Aerial footage captured by Sky5 showed one of two water-dropping helicopter dousing an out-of-control hotspot, while structure-defense crews worked to keep flames spreading to nearby homes.

This developing story will be updated as additional details become available.  

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