Firefighters respond to Rancho Mirage house fire

Cal Fire crews battled a 2-alarm fireWednesday eveningin a residential area across Highway 111 from The River shopping complex, a Cal Fire spokesperson confirmed.

Flames destroyed a home, two vehicles and a travel trailer.

A neighbor, Les Gapay, saw the fire.Gapay said, “I looked out my window and I saw all kinds of thick, black smoke coming out of that house. I heard more explosions later.”

The fire was reported shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday on the 4000 block of Rancho Mirage Lane.

Callers into the KESQ and CBS Local 2 newsroom reported seeing a lot of smoke and several fire engines arriving at the scene.

Crews found a garage on fire with several other buildings threatened by the wind-whipped flames.

12engines, 2 ladder trucksand more than50 firefighters were dispatched, said a Cal Fire spokesman.

Firefightersbattled the fire in less-than-ideal circumstances. The temperature at 5 p.m. was 101-degrees in Rancho Mirage and wind gusts were clocked at nearly 30 mph.

There were no injuries.

Burning debris threatened a neighboring home, and high winds and the heat forced firefighters to call for additional help.