California firefighters battle 3 small blazes in Riverside County amid hot, dry weather

MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters in Southern California are battling three separate brush fires that started Friday afternoon amid the hottest weather of the year so far. The fires are in mostly rural areas of Riverside County, southeast of Los Angeles. Two of the fires have stopped spreading, but the third has grown to more than 2 square miles. All three fires are less than 40 miles apart. Authorities ordered evacuations for nearly 1,000 homes, but there were no immediate reports of injuries. Officials are investigating what caused the fires.