Small Brush Fire Breaks Out Near Murrieta Home

While thick smoke permeated the valley Monday afternoon from a , the Murrieta Fire Department quickly put out a brush fire that started just yards from a home.

The fire was reported at 4:24 p.m. on residential property in the 36000 block of Los Alamos Road, according to Murrieta fire Battalion Chief Mario Monroy.

A 13-year-old girl was home when her brother pulled into the driveway and saw the flames. He called the fire department, and crews had the flames 100 percent contained by 4:44 p.m.

"We had some natural barriers that assisted us," Monroy said.

Sixteen firefighters responded to the fire, including two from Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

The cause of the roughly two-acre fire had not been determined yet, according to Monroy.

The fire briefly threatened a power pole on the property, and may have also inadvertently triggered a minor traffic accident on Whitewood Road and Los Alamos Road. A car was stopped at the intersection to allow a Murrieta fire engine to pass through, when the car behind it rear-ended it, authorities reported. No one was injured in the accident or the fire.