A wind-driven brush fire burns 30 acres of dry hillside near Cal State San Bernardino

SAN BERNARDINO, California (KABC) –

A brush fire caused by the wind burned behind the University of California's San Bernardino campus Sunday night, but authorities said it was not threatening the campus.

The fire is declared shortly before 8 pm. in the 5500 block of University Parkway. Authorities said the 3-acre fire appeared to be rising and that it was being fueled by dry scrub and high winds. In less than an hour, it has grown to about 30 acres, authorities said.

It burned in Badger Canyon, just behind an observatory. The campus community was not threatened, said fire officials, but it has put in place a precautionary structure protection.

Voluntary evacuations were also issued for residents living near the 59th and Carleton. But no structure was threatened and two crews as well as water offers were in the area.

"The key to quickly controlling this fire was a massive response from the county's resources as well as the US Forest Service, first-alarm resources augmented by second-alarm resources, getting our crews, engine manufacturers and bulldozers to work before wind could actually exert its influence and create havoc in the community, "said Eric Sherwin, of the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

At 9:45 pm, the authorities stated that the advance of the fire had been stopped and that they had started to clean it up.

The cause of the fire was unknown.