Moreno Valley brush fire shuts freeway

MORENO VALLEY, Calif. – A fast-moving brush fire in Riverside County that briefly trapped about 50 drivers when it jumped a major freeway has burned about 450 acres.

County Fire Department spokeswoman Cheri Patterson says the fire started burning dry grass and brush around 4 p.m. Saturday in a rugged hillside area between Moreno Valley and Beaumont.

The fire threatened drivers when it jumped State Route 60 until California Highway Patrol officers escorted them to safety. A 2-mile section of the freeway was shut while firefighters beat back the flames; the lanes slowly reopened by the evening.

The fire was 35 percent contained. Patterson said about 250 firefighters will use bulldozers through the night to clear a containment line around the fire.