Aguanga brush fire grows to more than 5,000 acres in SW Riverside County

The Nixon Fire has burned through a primarily rural area, just ranches and other spread out properties.

There are close to 900 homes in the evacuation zone, which means about 3,000 people have been ordered to leave. Firefighters have been able to save many homes, but not all of them.

"This morning, I wake up and realize, I'm a homeless person now ... totally homeless," said Victoria Dang, whose home on Bonny Lane was destroyed.

She said the fire move through area fast on Monday.

"It's really scary, it's fast, you never know, the wind would go different directions, too," she said.

Plus, many homeowners, including Dang, don't have home insurance.

"The problem is I could not insure the property because out here, they canceled all the policies," she said. "The way that Buddha teaches me, it comes and it goes. Today, you have everything, and tomorrow, you have nothing."

Though evacuation orders remain in place, the fire is no longer an immediate threat to homes or other buildings.

According to officials, at least one structure has been destroyed since the fire erupted. Four others were damaged.

As of Tuesday morning, the head of the fire was well inside the Beauty Mountain Wilderness, near Iron Spring Mountain, maintained and protected by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

At the height of the brusher, seven Cal Fire air tankers and four water-dropping helicopters were making runs on it. On Tuesday, aircraft were only required for targeted operations.

An evacuation order was implemented for the scattered homes south of Highway 371, north of the county line, west of Terwilliger Road and east of Foolish Pleasure Road.

An evacuation center was established at Temecula Valley High School.

Winds shifted due to the hilly terrain, complicating firefighting efforts on Monday, forcing crews to spread out and try to establish structure protection lines. The winds were not intense Tuesday morning. Properties in the remote location are spaced acres apart.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Monday, the blaze spread into the 2,300-acre burn scar from the Bonny Fire that crews battled for over a week last July and August in Aguanga.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.