Updated: 4:20 p.m. June 24

First discovered: 6 days ago, 5:19 p.m. June 18

Initial location: Rider Street and Seaton Avenue, Mead Valley, Riverside County, Calif.

Fire unit: Cal Fire Riverside Unit

Fire type: Wildfire

Fire name: Rider Fire

Rider Fire initially started 5:19 p.m. June 18 in Riverside County, California.

Since its discovery six days ago, it has burned 50 acres. By Tuesday afternoon, a fire crew of 125 has achieved full containment of the blaze. Investigations into its cause are still ongoing.

Firefighting efforts included 20 engines, one water tender, two dozers and three hand crews. According to Cal Fire, “Numerous firefighting air tankers from throughout the State are flying fire suppression missions as conditions allow.”

Cal Fire status update

Situation Summary

UPDATE 9:00 AM: The fire was contained at 7:20PM on 6/18/25. One patrol and one engine are assigned to continue to monitor for hotspots within the burned area.

Fire containment

What does 100% containment mean?

Note that full containment doesn’t mean the fire is completely out. In this case, it means that the whole perimeter of the wildfire has been surrounded by a control line and it is now stopped from spreading. A fully contained wildfire may continue to burn within the containment perimeter but is not likely to spread.

However, there’s a significant difference between containing and controlling a wildfire. After the fire is fully contained, the next step is to control it. Controlling a fire means ensuring that the fire can’t spread or cross the containment line.

Containment is part of a larger plan for managing a wildfire. It is normally expressed as a percentage and it refers to how much of the fire perimeter has been surrounded/enclosed by a control line that firefighters create. The containment percentage indicates a certain level of control, but it doesn’t always correlate to safety level. Also, it’s important to note that containment doesn’t mean a fire is out.

How is containment measured?

The incident’s central command constantly receives progress reports from firefighters on the ground. As the fireline is constructed, inspected or reinforced, mappers record those details to adjust the containment percentage. The percentage tells the public how much of the fire perimeter is believed to not go beyond the control lines.

Source: Cal Fire