Vegetation fire in Thermal 100% contained

Cal Fire has extinguished a large vegetation fire that quickly grew to 60 acres in Thermal on Thursday afternoon.

As of Friday night, firefighters had reached 95% containment and structures were no longer threatened. Officials said one flare-up occurred but they were able to douse the flames quickly.

They continued with mop up duty and fully contained the fire.

The fire sparked in the 57-000 block of Grapefruit Boulevard and Fillmore Street at 2:16 p.m. Cal Fire officials said it’s burning at a rapid rate.

Heavy black smoke could be seen across the Coachella Valley sky immediately Thursday afternoon. Fire officials said storage cabinets and stored diesel fuels are burning with the heavy vegetation. Viewers told us it sounded like a series of explosions happened one after the other.

Four firefighters suffered minor injuries and have since been released from local hospitals. Three homes and multiple outbuildings were destroyed in the fire, according to Cal Fire.

The California Highway Patrol shut down multiple roads in the area: Grapefruit Boulevard is closed from Main Street to Pierce Street, Fillmore Street is closed from 59th Avenue to Grapefruit Boulevard and Desert Cactus Drive is closed from 58th Avenue to 57th Avenue.

Union Pacific Railroad has stopped train traffic on the tracks that run parallel to, and east of the roadway as well.

The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined yet.