(The Center Square) — The Wolf wildfire in Riverside County burned Tuesday for a third day as fire crews fought desperately to contain its fast-growing flames.
The Wolf Fire is currently the largest wildfire in California. The fire started just south of Banning, near Old Idyllwild Road and Wolfskill Truck Trail on Sunday around 3 p.m., as reported previously by The Center Square. As of 7:50 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday, the fire had charred 2,414 acres and was 35% contained, according to a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection incident report.
Evacuation orders and warnings remain in place as Cal Fire has yet to mitigate the flames and stop the spread of the fire, according to the Cal Fire website.
Steep terrain poses a challenge for fire crews, but nevertheless, they are working to reinforce and establish containment lines, Cal Fire said. Cal Fire also said fire crews would face some more challenges on Tuesday because the department expects warm temperatures, low humidity and winds.
Cal Fire has assigned 925 personnel, 23 fire crews, 16 water tenders and many more resources to the Wolf Fire. Cal Fire has also reported three confirmed firefighter injuries caused by the fire.
Overnight, fire crews were able to make progress on extinguishing the Wolf Fire by strengthening containment lines, Cal Fire said in a post on X Tuesday morning. Cal Fire also said during the night the humidity was high, which caused the fire activity to be small.
As Riverside County undergoes wildfire season, Cal Fire reminded residents not to light any Fourth of July fireworks, in a post on X Tuesday afternoon. That is because fireworks are illegal in some cities in the county, but also, lighting fireworks runs the risk of accidentally igniting another fire in the area.