Firefighters battling blazes in De Luz, Temecula Valley Wine Country

Update at 6:50 p.m., May 4, 2018.

Firefighters were fighting two separate blazes in the Temecula area early Friday evening, one in the community of De Luz west of town and another near Temecula Valley Wine Country

The blaze burning in De Luz, the Tornado fire, had grown to 70 acres early Friday evening but firefighters also had achieved 20 percent containment on that blaze.

As firefighters were starting to get a handle on that blaze, another fire erupted near Wine Country.

That fire, the Woodchuck fire, was reported about 5:36 p.m. on Highway 79 and Woodchuck Road, according to Riverside County Fire officials. That fire was around 3-5 acres at the time firefighters arrived, but was said to be about 10 acres by early Friday evening.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Update at 5 p.m., May 4, 2018.

A wildfire in the hills near Temecula had grown to 60 acres with zero percent containment by late Friday afternoon.

The fire, dubbed the Tornado fire, initially was reported around 2:48 p.m. as a one-acre blaze in an orchard in the unincorporated community of De Luz.

Though the fire was not at any level of containment, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Tawny Cabral said it was burning at a slow rate of speed.

Roughly 117 firefighters, one helicopter and 14 engines were fighting the blaze.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Original story:

Cal Fire/Riverside County Firefighters were battling a 20-25 acre wildfire that broke out in the De Luz area near Temecula.

The fire, dubbed the Tornado fire, was reported in the 28000 block of Via Santa Rosa.

Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Tawny Cabral wrote that the fire started at about 1 acre in size in an orchard before spreading to its current acreage.

Shortly before 4 p.m. a large plume of white smoke from the blaze was visible in south Temecula.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.