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Photos: Fast-moving fires force evacuations, char thousands of acres in Riverside County

An air tanker drops fire retardant on a brushy ridge.
An air tanker drops fire retardant as the Rabbit fire burns in Lamb Canyon near Beaumont on Saturday.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
By Irfan Khan
 and Allen J. Schaben

The Rabbit fire, which began Friday afternoon in the community of Lakeview, had burned 7,600 acres with 5% containment as of Saturday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry/Riverside County Fire Department. Triple-digit temperatures across the region and difficult topography are proving challenging for crews battling the wildfire, said Tawny Castro, public information officer with the county fire department.

A firefighter sets a backfire in a grassy field.
Cal Fire crews set a backfire while fighting the Rabbit fire near a Beaumont home in triple-digit heat in Riverside County on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A firefighter stands on a ridge with a fire sending up dense black smoke in the background.
A Cal Fire firefighter keeps an eye as Rabbit Fire rages in Lamb Canyon on Saturday, July 15, 2023 in Riverside County, CA.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Flames rise behind a home with a firetruck parked in front.
Cal Fire crews defend a Beaumont home from the Rabbit fire amid triple-digit heat in Riverside County on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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An air tanker drops fire retardant ahead of burning brush.
An air tanker drops fire retardant on the Rabbit fire in Lamb Canyon near Beaumont in Riverside County on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A burned out vehicle in an ashy landscape.
A vehicle charred by Rabbit fire along Gilman Springs Road near Moreno Valley on Saturday.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
White smoke rises from a burned area.
After a water-dropping helicopter flew overhead to make a drop nearby, a smoke funnel spins across the scorched landscape after the Rabbit fire burned through in Riverside County on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A helicopter is silhouetted against a smoky sky.
A helicopter drops water on the Rabbit fire near a house in the Beaumont area in Riverside County on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Irfan Khan

Irfan Khan was a staff photographer with the Los Angeles Times from 1996 to 2024. He previously served as a freelance photographer for the publication beginning in 1989. Khan started his career as a commercial photographer in 1973 in Pakistan and moved to Dubai in 1977, where he worked for an advertising agency and at a leading English newspaper. Khan’s assignments have taken across Southern California and the U.S. Internationally, he has photographed the Hajj in Saudi Arabia and war zones of the Pakistan/Afghanistan border in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He was part of the team awarded the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for coverage of the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to semi-classical music of the Indian subcontinent and playing cricket on Sundays.

Allen J. Schaben

Los Angeles Times staff photographer Allen J. Schaben is an award-winning journalist capturing a wide range of images over the past 34 years. Before joining The Times, he honed his craft at the Detroit Free Press, Dallas Morning News, Wichita Eagle and Connecticut Post. Schaben earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993.

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