Riverside County firefighters work to extinguish 4,500-acre Nixon Fire
Firefighters are working to extinguish a nearly 4,500-acre fire that erupted in a small town in southeastern Riverside County Monday afternoon. As of Tuesday morning, it remained 0% contained.
The Nixon Fire began just before 12:30 p.m. near Tule Valley Road and Richard Nixon Boulevard in Aguanga. It started at about five acres but exploded to 295 within two hours. Within another three hours, it grew exponentially to 1,000 acres.
Firefighters said it was moving east and was at 3,700 acres around 9:30 p.m. It's growth relatively slowed down the following day growing to 4,500 acres by 2:40 p.m.
Firefighters issued evacuation orders for RVC-TULE2-A, RVC-TULE2-B, RVC-TULE4, RVC-TULE6, RVC-TULE7, RVC-TULE8, CBI-CAHUILLA1-B, RVC-2327-A, RVC-2327-B, RVC-TABLEMT4 and RVC-TABLEMT5. They issued warnings for RVC-TULE1, RVC-TULE3, RVC-TULE5, RVC-LAKERIVERSIDEESTATES4, CBI-CAHUILLA1-A, RVC-2369, RVC-TABLEMT2, RVC-TABLEMT3, RVC-TABLEMT6 and RVC-2280.
The evacuation orders' roadway boundaries are north of Cooper Cienega Trail, south of Bailey Road, east of Holly Ann, and west of Terwilliger Road.
The evacuation warning boundaries are north of the San Diego-Riverside County Line, south of Heller Springs Road, east of Terwilliger Road, and west of Table Mountain Truck Trail.
Here is a map outlining those areas; yellow indicates a warning, while red indicates an order. These orders and warnings are subject to change. The department will update this interactive map with up-to-date orders and warnings, and Cal Fire will typically post changes to its social media accounts, too.
Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department set up a care and reception center for evacuated residents at Temecula Valley High School at 31555 Rancho Vista Road, Temecula. Animal services will be there to help people with pets.
Riverside County dispatched 255 personnel, 44 engines, two helicopters and other resources to get a handle on the wildfire.
Cal Fire and Riverside County have not released any information about destroyed buildings. However, one resident said at least one building that controlled the irrigation to his ranch burned down.
"It's going to cost me $5,000-$10,000 to get this fixed," resident Matthew Hendricks said. "Which I don't have."
Hendricks also said the fire burned down his chicken coop, which housed all his chickens.
Aguanga has a population of 989. The US Census Bureau did not have accurate figures displaying the town's socioeconomic makeup. The poverty rate could range between 3.1% and 63.9% compared to the state's 12.2%.
"I'm broke," Richard Enriquez said. "I ain't got no money. I lost everything."