1 person arrested on suspicion of starting top fire with fireworks east of Freeway 215 in Riverside area – Press Enterprise

The Top Fire started around 4:30 p.m. Saturday on Poarch Drive and Hill Top Drive, a gravel road surrounded by foliage in the Riverside-Moreno Valley area. (Photo by OnScene.TV)

Fire investigators arrested a person on Saturday, July 6, in connection with the fireworks that sparked the Top Fire that burned about 48 acres in the Riverside-Moreno Valley area, authorities said.

Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Tawny Castro confirmed the arrest on Sunday and said the fire was caused by fireworks.

The fire broke out around 4:30 p.m. Saturday on Poarch Road and Hill Top Drive, a gravel road surrounded by foliage in an unincorporated area east of the 215 Freeway and Riverside and north of Moreno Valley. Firefighters from Cal Fire/Riverside and the city of Riverside battled the blaze and received assistance from aircraft dropping flame retardant.

The fire threatened several buildings before it was fully contained around 9 p.m., Cal Fire/Riverside said.

Four people were initially detained and another person was later arrested by fire investigators after Riverside County Sheriff’s Office officers searched the suspect’s vehicle at Day Street and Canyon Springs Parkway, the Moreno Valley Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

No further details were immediately given about the suspects, the type of firework that caused the fire or how authorities identified the suspect’s vehicle.