Firefighters, Hikers Examine Palm Tree Fire Aftermath

People are still talking about Friday’s fire that scorched eight acres of federal land, located off Thousand Palms Canyon Rd., near the Coachella Valley Preserve.

“From where I live, I can see directly into the area,” said Bob Gillian, of Palm Desert. “As I looked up, all of a sudden, it looked like a plane crashed.”

Gilligan estimates the flames shot a hundred feet into the air.

Gail Geiger, an avid nature photographer, took some pictures of the aftermath. She says it is heartbreaking to see such an eerie sight.

“I don’t like to see it,” she said. “It’s such a beautiful sight. People come out here, and they hike.”

Steve Murdoch, who stayed in Desert Hot Springs for Thanksgiving, took a picture of the plume of smoke with his cell phone.

“I was wondering how far this was going to spread,” he said. “It was a pretty good plume, and there’s a lot of dry foliage here.”

Over 75 firefighters from CAL FIRE, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management teamed up to fight the fight. It began Friday afternoon. Firefighters had it under control by that night.

Three members of the BLM fire department came back to the scene Monday searching for hot spots and scraping off embers from tree trunks. The captain said everything looked fine.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

A BLM spokesperson says the charred palm trees may resprout as early as this coming spring. He says palm trees are known to be able to burn badly and recover quickly.

News Channel 3 asked several hikers how they think the fire began. Most of them blame vandalism.

“It took hundreds of years to grow [the preserve], and somebody destroyed it in 15 minutes,” said Gilligan.