in the San Jacinto Mountains as a wildfire that grew to 35 square
miles early Thursday continues to burn under tinderbox conditions.
STORY: Wildfire burns 7 homes, threatens more
STORY: Calif. fire burns toward Palm Springs
On Wednesday, the fire outgunned nearly 3,000 firefighters and
prompted the evacuation of about 6,000 residents and visitors in
Idyllwild, Fern Valley and nearby wilderness areas including Mount San
Jacinto State Park during what usually is a busy summer tourist
season. About 2,200 homes were evacuated and 4,100 residences
including hotels, condominiums and cabins were threatened, Forest
Service spokeswoman Melody Lardner said.
"This fire is moving pretty fast and we're getting such strange winds
and weather that they're changing on us frequently," Incident
Commander Jeanne Pincha-Tulley said. "We're erring on the side of
caution to get people out as soon as we can."
A Girl Scout camp and another camp for special needs children also
were evacuated because of air-quality concerns. A church retreat had
significant damage, but horses that had to remain as campers fled are
safe, said Sandy Roberts, executive secretary of the Southern
California Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
By Wednesday night, flames were visible in Palm Springs, a city of
almost 50,000 that started out about a dozen miles from the fire's
origin. The fire has split into two fronts, one advancing northeast
toward Palm Springs, another east toward Palm Desert.
"Up on the ridge, you're seeing 40- to 60-foot flame lengths. And when
you have flame lengths that large, the crews can't engage directly on
the fire because the intensity is just too high," said Dennis Burns, a
fire behavior analyst who was among the firefighters at a helicopter
base on a meadow below the burning ridges.
Temperatures were expected to linger near 100 degrees for the next two
days before a weekend cooling trend with a slight chance of rain. The
fire, dubbed the Mountain Fire because of its start around 1:45 p.m.
Monday just north of this community of fewer than 100 people, is 15
percent contained.
"The slightest little spark is going to make a run and torch trees,"
said Tina Rose, a spokeswoman for the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection. "It's just so bone dry." Some of the
area had not burned in 35 years.
Costs to fight it have escalated to $4.5 million, and its cause
remains under investigation.
The wildfire damaged or destroyed seven homes soon after it broke out
Monday, and firefighters have been able to stave off serious damage
since.
The blaze damaged one house and destroyed three others, three mobile
homes, a cabin, a garage and about a half dozen vehicles, the U.S.
Forest Service said. Eleven outbuildings, a commercial building and
several smaller structures also were lost, a total of 23 buildings so
far.
The fire was burning about 12 miles from the site of the 2006
Esperanza wildfire that killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters
and destroyed 34 homes.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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