Fire crews prioritize saving homes from Nixon Fire in Riverside

The Nixon Fire continues to burn near Riverside, scorching over 5,200 acres as of Friday afternoon.

So far, about 900 people have had to flee their homes. There are over 1,000 personnel fighting the blaze, 91 fire engines, and six helicopters. Cal Fire Captain Daniel Potter, told KNX News the top priority is to keep people’s homes safe.

“And so we're trying to get everything accomplished to get, you know, all the hotspots and all that stuff extinguished and working with Anza Electric and stuff to get power that was shut off on the initial day of the fire, get some power poles replaced that were damaged,” he said.

The sooner power can be restored to homes in the area, the sooner people can return to their homes, Potter said.

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According to Cal Fire, monsoons that may produce lightning and increased winds could increase fire activity.

The fire is at 21% containment as of Friday. Cal Fire officials determined the fire was "electrical and caused by a privately owned electrical panel."

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