‘Very close to my house’ Residents react as fire burns 7 mobile homes in North Palm Springs
Fire engulfed four mobile homes and damaged three others in the North Palm Springs area on Thursday at the Carefree Mobile Home Park.
The fire began at 3:53 p.m., with initially only one mobile home reported to be on fire, according to the California Highway Patrol.
“I hear my neighbor's daughter and she was screaming. And I thought something was going wrong.," said resident Tellez.
By 4:30 p.m., a Riverside County Fire Department official said four mobile homes were involved. As of 4:47 p.m., CAL Fire reported at least 7 homes were affected.
Tellez said she was just a few feet away, watching the fire engulf everything in its path.
“I got scared because it is very close to my house and my neighbor trailer," Tellez said.gomez was terrified – when the flames approached her trailer.
Crews from the Cathedral City and Palm Springs fire departments responded to the scene to assist with the blaze due to heavy wind conditions.
“I smell the smoke in my house because I live in a front. I smell something, I say, what's going on? So I come out and I saw the smoke coming underneath a mobile home," said resident Lenore Gomez.
Gomez was terrified when the flames approached her trailer.
“There was fire underneath my house. And I was so scared my kids was crying like, they were so scared," she addd. "We went to my house so the fire went to the stairs the stairs my stairs are burned.”
Cal Fire tells us it’s these gusty winds and dry conditions that make putting out the flames that much harder in situations like this.
“These homes have a ton of flammable objects inside of them, so it builds up a ton of heat. When that wind kicks up. It spreads that heating element to it. It's really easy for these fires to spread," said Cal Fire Capt. Thomas Shoots.
In addition, a firefighter was injured. They were hospitalized with injuries described as "minor."
North Indian Canyon Drive was closed for water lines as fire crews battled the flames, according to the CHP.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Stay with News Channel 3 for more updates on this situation
