Black Smoke Erupts From Beaumont Blaze: 40+ Acres Burn, 0% Contained

BEAUMONT, CA—A fire broke out south of Beaumont Thursday afternoon, sending columns of black smoke into the blue midday sky alongside Highway 79. The fire scorched over 40 acres before crews stopped it.

Shortly before 1:15 p.m. the non-injury blaze erupted on the northbound side of the highway, near North California Avenue and Lamb Canyon Road, according to the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

Multiple engine crews were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a rapid rate away from the highway, according to spokesperson Rob Roseen.

California Highway Patrol officers initially shut down the northbound 79 and one lane on the southbound side for public safety. Those lanes gradually reopened after 2 p.m.

According to reports from the scene, it took three Cal Fire air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter a handful of runs to slow the brusher's advance. That enabled firefighters to develop tentative containment lines.

The air assets entirely departed the location, returning to Hemet-Ryan Airport an hour later, and by 2:45 p.m., the brusher's forward rate of spread was halted, but there were no estimates on containment.

No evacuation warnings were required in the lightly populated area, which is about three-quarters of a mile north of the county's Lamb Canyon Landfill.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

City News Service contributed to this report.