UPDATED: Falls Fire Fully Contained

A wildfire that charred nearly 1,400 acres in the Cleveland National Forest near the Ortega Highway was fully contained Friday.

The blaze west of Lake Elsinore, called the Falls Fire, consumed 1,393 acres and was declared 100 percent contained at 6:30 p.m., according to Cal Fire.

Regional and federal fire authorities plan to hand the remainder of the fire fight over to local authorities at 6 a.m. Saturday. The move frees firefighters from larger agencies to help contain the Silver Fire in Banning that has blackened more than 17,500 acres and the Sharp Fire in San Bernardino County.

California Highway Patrol officers will escort residents with identification back to the areas affected by the wildfire during three separate times, CHP spokesman Ray Harvey said.

The schedule is 5:30 to 7:30 a.m.; 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; and 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Two outbuildings were damaged during the Falls Fire and 12 firefighters suffered minor to moderate injuries that consisted of heat exhaustion, twisted ankles and knees, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Jake Rodriguez said.

One civilian was hurt but the nature of the person's injury was not made public, Rodriguez said.

The U.S. Forest Service, Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department formed a unified command to battle the blaze that broke out Monday morning and was fueled by 6-foot-tall chaparral and fine fuels in steep terrain, according to Vickie Wright of the U.S. Forest Service.

No homes were damaged and a mandatory evacuation order for the 50-home Decker Canyon community was lifted Tuesday, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

What started the Falls Fire remained under investigation, Rodriguez said. --City News Service