CAL FIRE SAN DIEGO SENDS AIR RESOURCES TO BATTLE #JIMFIRE EAST OF IRVINE

By Jonathan Goetz

Last update: 7:07 p.m.

March 2, 2022 (Cleveland National Forest) - CAL-Fire San Diego has sent air resources to a remote area east of Irvine, in Orange County with smoke also visible in Riverside County in Southern California. The fire began at 11:20 a.m. in the Holy Jim trail area, per Cleveland National Forest, which is coordinating the firefighting response.

The Fire Integrated Real-time Intelligence System (FIRIS) reported that as of 4:24 p.m. the #JimFire had reached 551 acres. It can be difficult to map and fight fires in such mountainous terrain.

There is a volunteer fire department very close to the location and it is near sensitive communications equipment, but air resources are helping, and today's weather may be somewhat cooperative given there was a prescribed burn in the area, cancelled when the Jim Fire broke, per East County Magazine News Partner 10 News.

Photo credit, right: Cleveland National Forest on Twitter

The fire was spotted in thick terrain. It is a remote area and no homes are immediately threatened, although it is close to Santiago Peak Communications Site, prompting retired Cal-Fire Riverside Fire Chief John Hawkins to on Twitter, call for permanent funding of FIRIS.

The site is near the same place the 2018 #HolyFire that burned 23,000 acres started, that eventually tore through Cleveland National Forest and prompted mass evacuations in Riverside County.

Controlled burns in Cleveland National Forest were cancelled during the 2018-2019 Federal Government Shutdown, as ECM reported at the time.

We thank our principal sponsor, Grossmont Healthcare District, and supporting sponsor, the San Diego Regional Fire Foundation, for their generous undewrtiing to sustain our emergency alerts.