Firefighters douse commercial structure fire in Palm Desert

The Riverside County Fire Department was called to a two-alarm commercial structure fire in Palm Desert on Monday night.

The fire ignited just before 9:30 p.m near the intersection of Cook Street and Velie Way. Officials said an exterior fire spread into two of four units of a steel-grade structure.

One of the businesses that shares the complex is Alkobar Quickstop and Deli, which firefighters could be seen entering as they worked the fire near the back of the complex.

News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 spoke with a tattoo artist who works at Bloodline Tattoo, which also shares the complex. Mackie Aleman said he was in the middle of a job when the fire broke out.

“I was just tattooing and then somebody ran in and was like, ‘Hey there’s a fire in the back’, and then we opened up the back door and there was fire everywhere and smoke, and we ran outside,” Aleman said.

Fire officials said the fire was contained to the attic and roof of the two units just after 10 p.m. Nobody was injured.

The extent of damage hasn’t been detailed at this time and it’s unclear if the businesses will be affected by any fire damage. We’re looking into this Tuesday morning and we’ll have more details throughout the day.

Firefighters remained at the scene until midnight, according to the release.