Tamarisk arson suspect taken into custody

A man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of arson in connection with a fire that broke out along the Palm Desert-Bermuda Dunes border Thursday morning.

Raul Hernandez, 35, of Bermuda Dunes was taken into custody before noon for a probation violation. According to Deputy Mike Vazquez, public information officer for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Hernandez is a suspect in the arson investigation.

Hernandez was taken into custody on Traverso Road in Palm Desert. Sheriffs deputies believe he fled the scene of the blaze after sparking it.

Firefighters were providing additional mop-up early Friday morning after Thursday’s fire in Tamarisk trees along Interstate 10 in Palm Desert.

CalFire Captain Fernando Herrera said Friday morning that crews would be patrolling the area for hot spots that might resurface. Herrera said duff accumulation in the tree burn area, and large tree trunks, will smolder and require additional mop up. Herrera said this poses no threat or hazard.

The fire broke out in Palm Desert and Bermuda Dunes in a thicket of tamarisk trees, but was contained in about an hour and a half.

ORIGINAL STORY: Tamarisk tree fires contained in Palm Desert, Bermuda Dunes

The fire was reported shortly before 10 a.m. near the intersection of Country Club and Starlight Lane, just east of Washington Street.

According to a Palm Desert resident who lives to the west of Washington Street in the Amatista gated community, Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies are evacuating homes in the area. According to Cal Fire, the evacuations conducted by the sheriffs department were in the area of Fresco Lane and Brisa Drive.

61 firefighters and nine fire engines responded to the blaze. The fire was burning in an area of about 1/4 acre of heavy brush and tamarisk trees.

The fire appeared to be centered in several spots along a 100 or so yard stretch along the railroad tracks next to Interstate 10.