Community Fire Relief Center Opens in Lake Elsinore

As crews continue to make progress encircling the 23,500-acre Airport Fire burning in Orange and Riverside counties, those impacted by the blaze and who may need assistance with food and health care support, as well as other needs, are invited to visit a one-stop resource that will open Thursday in Lake Elsinore.

The Airport Fire Local Assistance Center will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Lake Community Center, located at 310 W. Graham Ave.

The Riverside County Department of Public Social Services, Public Health, Housing & Workforce Solutions and other local agencies will be joined by representatives from the California Office of Emergency Services and several nonprofit organizations to provide information on how to procure financial, medical and related aid.

"This is an incredibly difficult time for our residents, and the LAC is here to bring them one step closer to recovery," according to a Riverside County Emergency Management Department statement.

Additional details are available at RivCoReady.org/recovery.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved an emergency declaration connected to the wildfire, enabling the county to seek state and federal allocations for infrastructure repairs or improvements and general recovery of expenses stemming from the blaze.

As of Thursday, the fire was 41% contained, and no mandatory evacuations were active for Lakeland Village, the Trilogy community and surrounding locations along Interstate 15, as was the case a week ago. The area, however, remained under an evacuation warning.

A few communities within the Cleveland National Forest in Riverside County, mostly around the closed Ortega (74) Highway, are still under evacuation orders, though a larger number are in Orange County.

"The county has implemented emergency protective measures to the public by controlling traffic, prohibiting ingress and egress into affected areas due to conditions considered dangerous to lives and property," according to the EMD.

The Orange County Fire Authority said 14 people have been hurt, mostly firefighters who suffered minor injuries fighting the blaze, many of them heat-related.

Cal Fire said 160 residential, commercial and other structures have been destroyed, and another 34 damaged.

The Airport Fire began early on the afternoon of Sept. 9 near Trabuco Canyon Road in the area of the remote-controlled airplane airport, OCFA Capt. Sean Doran said.

Officials said the fire was sparked by a county public works crew using heavy equipment. The cause was deemed accidental.

It's estimated the fire will be fully contained by lines of cleared vegetation in one week.