How bad was the Cottonwood Fire east of Hemet in the San Jacinto Mountains?
A wildfire in the San Jacinto Mountains had burned some 600 acres as of 9 p.m. Thursday. According to the multi-agency InciWeb, what has been dubbed the Cottonwood Fire was first reported 10 miles east of Hemet and a mile east of Cranston at approximately 5:13 p.m. Highway 74 is closed east of Hemet, and there are evacuations in place near Bee Canyon. There were 320 firefighters working the blaze Thursday evening. Containment was estimated at 5 percent. The fire is moving north at a moderate rate. The cause is under investigation. Watch InstantRiverside.com for updates. If you have photos or video of the fire, e-mail them to info@instantriverside.com. Significant fires were also burning Thursday night in La Cañada Flintridge, above Azusa and on the Rancho Palos Verdes Peninsula. – posted at 10:19 p.m. by Cathy Maestri Filed under News A1, Headline Thursday, August 27,
