Brush fire scorches 55 acres near San Bernardino National Forest

SAGE, CA — A brush fire that erupted Friday in Sage has scorched roughly 55 acres at the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest and is now 5% contained, according to the Riverside County Fire Department

The non-injury blaze was reported at 12:40 p.m. in the area of Taffle Ranch and Red Mountain roads, about six miles southeast of Hemet.

The #TaffleFire vegetation fire in Riverside County is visible on ALERTCalifornia's Red Mtn (Riverside) cameras. Look to @CALFIRERRU for incident updates and see conditions live at: https://t.co/msUDKCL6hP pic.twitter.com/w6v7o6hI79

— ALERTCalifornia (@ALERTCalifornia) August 14, 2026

Multiple engine and hand crews were sent to the location and encountered flames moving at a moderate rate through medium vegetation in the lightly populated area.

VEGETATION FIRE - Rpt @ the 44200 block of Taffle Ranch Rd. south of Red Mountain Rd. in the unincorporated area of Sage. Multiple ground and air resources are responding to reports of smoke and fire. The first arriving unit, Patrol 23, confirmed a working vegetation fire in… pic.twitter.com/CwbEz44nVH

— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) August 14, 2026

Five CAL FIRE air tankers and two water-dropping helicopters arrived between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., making aerial runs that significantly slowed the fire's spread to the northwest.

Firefighters succeeded in keeping the flames south of Red Mountain and east of Oak Drive, where only a few scattered residential properties were in the path of the fire. Evacuation warnings were issued for residences and ranches located east of Oak Drive, north of Taffle Ranch and south of Red Mountain.

A care and reception center has been established at Hemet High School, 41701 Stetson Ave., Hemet, CA 92544.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.