4 detained after fireworks led to 50-acre wildfire in Moreno Valley, sheriff says

Fireworks led to a brush fire in Moreno Valley that scorched through 50 acres and threatened buildings in the area, sheriff's officials said Monday.

Four people have been detained in connection with allegedly starting the wildfire. It was burning dangerously close to a number of buildings after it broke out around 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the 20500 block of Hill Top Drive. Firefighting crews managed to stop it from spreading a little before 7 p.m., and later into the evening, authorities said it was 100% contained.

The same day, deputies identified and detained four people in connection with allegedly starting the blaze, and arson investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) have since taken over the case, according to Riverside County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez. She said deputies found them in a vehicle involved in the alleged crime.

The Moreno Valley Station of the Sheriff's Office has said they were arrested near Day Street and Canyon Springs Parkway and investigators believe the fire was caused by fireworks they allegedly set off.

With fire season underway, the city has already been the site of two other recent wildfires, the Lisa Fire which burned nearly 900 acres last month and the 344-acre Round Fire about two weeks later.