Southern California wildfire destroys and damages homes during scorching heat wave

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A destructive wildfire that swept into a Southern California neighborhood during a blisteringly hot weekend was 20% contained Monday after little overnight growth.

Three homes were destroyed after the fire erupted Sunday afternoon in a hilly area of Riverside, a city about 60 miles (95 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.

Four other structures were damaged, Riverside Fire Department Deputy Chief Steve McKinster said.

The cause of the fire, which had scorched just under 1 square mile (2.6 square kilometers), was under investigation.

Resident Noel Piri and his wife were away when they got a call about a fire in the neighborhood, rushed home and rescued their dog. Unfortunately, their house was in flames when firefighters arrived, The Press-Enterprise reported.

“It was kind of sad to see the house was gone,” Piri told the newspaper after rummaging through the remains of the newly remodeled house.

Riverside hit 102 degrees (38.9 degrees Celsius) on Sunday amid a heat wave has has been largely focused on the interior of California and is expected to last through much of the week.

Many other fires were also burning throughout the state, including one that started Saturday and rapidly expanded to more than 4 square miles (10.3 square kilometers) on the border of Lake and Colusa counties, northwest of Sacramento. Containment reached 25% on Monday.