RIVERSIDE, Calif.—Crews battled a smoky and fast-growing wildfire Friday in windy Southern California that forced some residents to evacuate and a community college to temporarily close its doors.
The Springs Fire broke out around 11 a.m. Friday and by the evening had grown to about 6.5 square miles. The cause of the fire east of Moreno Valley in Riverside County is under investigation. It was not immediately known how many households were under evacuation warnings or orders.
With hundreds of people battling the blaze — using helicopters, engines and water tenders — crews started to contain the blaze by Friday night.
The fire was burning in a populated — but not densely so — unincorporated part of Riverside County in a recreational area near the city of Moreno Valley, which has a population of roughly 200,000. The city is 10 miles southeast of Riverside and 64 miles east of Los Angeles….