After eight days of the Fairview Fire sweeping through Southern California’s desert communities, firefighters said the fire is now at 53 percent containment as of the afternoon of Sept. 12, with more than 28,300 acres burned. More than 1,100 structures were threatened, 36 were destroyed, and 6 were damaged.
The fire—which broke out on Labor Day—began at Fairview Avenue and Bautista Canyon Road near Hemet, California. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.Southern California Edison—the main electricity supplier for the region—claimed in a filing Sept. 6 that “circuit activity [occurred] close in time to the reported time of the fire”—indicating a possibility that the fire started from the utility’s equipment.
