Progress on 5800-acre Manzanita fire south of Beaumont breeds optimism – Press-Enterprise

A DC-10 air tanker makes a drop on the Manzanita fire just south of Beaumont Tuesday, June 27, 2017. FRANK BELLINO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG

Hand crews make their way up a hill to put out hot spots during the Manzanita fire just south of Beaumont Tuesday, June 27, 2017. FRANK BELLINO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG

Firefighters work to put out hot spots during the Manzanita fire just south of Beaumont Tuesday, June 27, 2017. FRANK BELLINO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG

Firefighters work to put out hot spots during the Manzanita fire just south of Beaumont Tuesday, June 27, 2017. FRANK BELLINO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG

Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department crews make their way to battle the Manzanita fire just south of Beaumont Tuesday, June 27, 2017. FRANK BELLINO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG

A helicopter makes a water drop on the Manzanita fire just south of Beaumont Tuesday, June 27, 2017. FRANK BELLINO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG

Air tankers make drops as they battle the Manzanita fire just south of Beaumont Tuesday, June 27, 2017. FRANK BELLINO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG

Fire crews make their way to battle the Manzanita fire just south of Beaumont Tuesday, June 27, 2017. FRANK BELLINO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG

Flames from the Manzanita fire in Lamb Canyon south of Beaumont are seen all the way from Cal Fires headquarters in Perris on Monday, June 26, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department)

Flames burn on a hill just off Highway 79 through Lamb Canyon between Beaumont and San Jacinto. The Manzanita fire broke out Monday afternoon, June 26, and closed down the highway. (Photo courtesy of Caltrans)

Thick smoke from the Manzanita fire rises from the hills south of Beaumont on Monday, June 26, 2017. (Photo by Micah Escamilla, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Thick smoke from the Manzanita fire rises from the hills south of Beaumont on Monday, June 26, 2017. (Photo by Micah Escamilla, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

An air tanker flies out of a smoke plume put up by the Manzanita fire in the hills south of Beaumont on Monday, June 26, 2017. (Photo by Micah Escamilla, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

An air tanker flies overhead during the Manzanita fire south of Beaumont on Monday, June 26, 2017. (Photo by Micah Escamilla, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Thick smoke from the Manzanita fire rises from the hills south of Beaumont on Monday, June 26, 2017, as a firefighting air tanker flies overhead. (Photo by Micah Escamilla, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The Manzanita fire burns in the hills south of Beaumont at dusk Monday, June 26, 2017. (Photo by Micah Escamilla, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Firefighters on the front lines of the 5,800-acre Manzanita fire south of Beaumont and Banning hope to capitalize Wednesday, June 28, on what was described as a pretty quiet day Tuesday.

Firefighters have been able to put in a lot of good work without any hiccups,Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department spokesmanCraig Doppmann said Tuesday evening.

It was still a critical time with a red flag warningin effect through 1 a.m. because of winds that were gusting up to 40 mph. But overall, The fires looking real good, not a whole lot of smoke, Doppmann said.

His cautious optimism was echoed by several residents of the areas that remained under an evacuation warning Tuesday. With the flames still a couple of miles away and barely any smoke visible, people said they were staying alert but their fears had mostly subsided.

About 1,300 firefighters and other personnel were battling the fire from the ground and air Tuesday.Doppmann said they made good progress on containment lines breaks created in the vegetation meant to stop the fire from spreading but officials want to make sure the lines hold before saying that containment has increased from the 20 percent reported Tuesday.

Were hoping by (Wednesday) morning that we will have a good strong line constructed,Cal Fire Capt. Lucas Spelman said.

Firefighters will be working in cooler weather. The forecast for Beaumont on Wednesday is for a high of 89 degrees, down from 97 on Tuesday. But that helps only so much, Spelman said.

The problem is we already have dry brush and grass, so that portion of the flammability is not going to change. So thats where the concern is, he said.

The evacuation warning which is a recommendation to leave voluntarily or be prepared if the evacuation becomes mandatory remained in place for homes between Highland Home Road south of Beaumont and Highway 243 south of Banning. That includes the mountain communities of Poppet Flats, Twin Pines, Silent Valley and Mount Edna,sheriffs officials said.

The warning will be re-evaluated in the next day or two, Spelman said.

A care and reception center was set up at Hemet High School, 41701 Stetson Ave., for anyone who chose to evacuate. Doppmann said a few people stopped by Tuesday.

Cindy Gray, who has lived in the Poppet Flat area for 16 years, said the large amount of smoke Monday worried her and her husband. The couple packed up their car in case they would be evacuated, like they were during the Silver fire in 2013.

As the smoke largely died down Tuesday, Gray and her husband became less worried and unpacked the car. Still, they were on alert.

A fires a fire its so unpredictable, Gray said. But were good, and we adore and pray for our firefighters.

Gray said local authorities have been doing a great job of keeping them informed of whether they are in danger.

Jake Sibole, who lives across the street from Gray, said he was still on edge Tuesday afternoon. He kept his car packed up, just in case.

This is Siboles first time living near a wildfire, and hes been watching local media closely for updates.

He said he was really worried Monday night when he received an alert on his cellphone telling him to evacuate now.

The Riverside County Sheriffs Department, intending to notify people affected by the evacuation warning via the Wireless Emergency Alerts system, accidentally sent a much more dire warning to a much broader group of people than intended, officials said.

After speaking with a fire official, Sibole said, he felt more at ease.

He told us to be prepared, and we took that to heart, he said.

At the base of the foothills on Highland Home Road, the western boundary of the evacuation warning, the Pipinger family owns a property with 15 horses, 20 cattle, dogs, cats and other critters.

Several family members came over Monday night to help them evacuate, Brandon Pipinger said.

When it became clear that wasnt necessary, they ordered pizza, put out some lawn chairs and watched as the air tankers flew overhead. The neighbors all kept in touch, just in case.

Several firefighters staged at the bottom of their driveway gave the kids a tour of their engines.

Since moving into the house about four years ago, the Pipingers have prepared in case they would ever need to be evacuated.

Living out here, we always keep documents, photos, everything packed just in case, Brandon Pipinger said.

A car crash on Highway 79 near the Lamb Canyon Landfill sparked the fire about 3:10 p.m. Monday. As the flames raced through the foothills, they charred 1,200 acres in the first three hours.

Highway 79 was shut down between the 10 Freeway in Beaumont and Gilman Springs Road in San Jacinto. All but one southbound lane reopened late Monday; the final lane opened up about 6 p.m. Tuesday.

A map displayed at the firefighters command post showed that as of Tuesday morning, the fire had spread about 5 1/2 miles east from its origin; the burned area measured about 1 1/2 miles from north to south. It was burning through the uninhabited northwest end of the San Jacinto Mountains.

The eastern edge of the fire remained about 2 1/2 miles away from Highway 243, the main route through the mountains populated areas, according to the map.

It showed that the portion of the fire that was officially contained was on the far western end.

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Progress on 5800-acre Manzanita fire south of Beaumont breeds optimism - Press-Enterprise