Cal Fire closing hiking, off-roading trails in Riverside County amid heightened fire risk

MEAD VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- A small brush fire burned about four acres in the hills south of a Mead Valley neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon, underscoring concerns about wildfire risk as Cal Fire announced the closure of several popular hiking and off-roading trails across Riverside County.

Fire officials said the blaze did not threaten homes, aided by relatively mild temperatures and light winds. Still, authorities say the fire reflects the kind of incident they hope to prevent through proactive trail closures that take effect Friday.

Cal Fire Riverside County Public Information Officer Jasmine Wood said the decision is driven by increasingly dangerous conditions on the ground.

"The fuel moistures are down right now, which is... why we have the closures in place," Wood said.

According to Wood, trail closures are implemented every year based on areas considered to be at the highest risk for wildfire starts.

This year's closures include the following areas:

- Eagle Canyon east of Corona
- Steel Peak north of Lake Elsinore
- Bautista Canyon southeast of Hemet
- North Mountain south of Banning
- Ramona Bowl south of Hemet

The closures are intended to reduce the likelihood of human-caused fires, particularly those sparked by off-road vehicles in dry brush areas.

"In Riverside County we do have a lot of residents who love to go off-roading, myself included, and so that can cause a lot of wildfires to start in these areas, so the closure of these trails help... stop that," Wood said.

Fire officials say off-roading activity can ignite vegetation through hot exhaust systems, sparks or mechanical failure, especially when fuel moisture levels are low.