High desert residents prepare to evacuate amid Apple Fire warning

People in the high desert are gearing up to leave town amid a new Apple Fire evacuation warning.

As of Thursday night, more than 28,000 acres were blackened with firefighters gaining 30 percent containment.

Fire crews issued evacuation warnings for Whitewater and Morongo Valley, adding to the existing warnings for Pioneertown, Rimrock and Forest Falls. The warning signals that people must prepare in case there isn't time to should an evacuation order become necessary.

Officials said they want those communities to be ready for the possibility of the fire moving in, though they were cautiously optimistic about holding it back. "Overall, the fire's looking fairly good, but we're not out of the woods yet," said Alex McBath with a California Incident Management team at a Pioneertown community meeting Thursday evening.

Fire officials said the fire is still 10 miles from the high desert, and four miles from the evacuation trigger point in Whitewater.

Ed Madigan struggled to load his four goats into the back of a trailer, hoping to grab his live stock and get out of harm's way. "i was thinking this was not going to be an event," he said. "We could see the smoke coming over this morning."

Wini Brewer has lived through enough high desert fires to know to take the evacuation warning seriously. She rented a motel room in Yucca Valley, further east of Morongo Valley and out of the danger zone.

"I trust the firemen, and if they're warning me I'm going to listen," Brewer said. "I've seen horses running wild and flames very close to my house. It could be a reality."

Michael Francis said he isn't panicking, thanks to prior experience with fire evacuations in the high desert. He's gathering important belongings should he need to leave, and said he's confident the community will have his back.

"This town really comes together for each other, for our neighbors," Francis said. "We look out for each other."

A main evacution center has been set up in Yucaipa and a smaller, more local one is at the Yucca Valley Community Room.

The Apple Fire has the most manpower on it of any fire in the state.

You can reach Jake on Twitter, Facebook or email him at jake.ingrassia@kesq.com.