The Cranston Fire remains at 18,139 acres and 92 percent contained. The number of personnel on the fire has dropped down to 580. Highway 74 is closed from Hemet to Highway 74 at Lake View Drive (Lake Hemet Market) Highway 243 is closed from lower Saunders Meadow Road south to Highway 74. Residents, business…

Capt. Scot Collins, Hemet Station commander of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, was prepared from experience for policing the mountain communities during the Mountain Fire that began Monday, July 15, in Mountain Center. That experience and the plans the Mountain Area Safety Taskforce formulated helped direct evacuation, kept the community residences and businesses safe from…

Editor’s note: Each year, the Town Crier reports the information below for the three local water districts — Fern Valley, Idyllwild and Pine Cove — and the Idyllwild Fire Protection. IWD information will appear next week, followed by PCWD and IFPD.  Each district provides the information to the state Controller General who posts it on…