Snow Fire in Palm Springs expected to be fully contained by Oct. 1; 6,254 acres burned, 67% contained
9/23/20, 2:00 p.m.
Officials announced that they expect full containment of the Snow Fire to come by October 1. The fire has currently burned 6,254 acres and is currently 67% contained.
All evacuation orders were originally lifted on Sunday.
9/21/20, 4:45 p.m.
Containment remained at 6,013 acres tonight, however, there was a big increase in containment. The fire is now 52% contained.
9/21/20, 5:20 a.m.
#SnowFire — The fire remains at 6,013 acres and is now 38% contained.
9/20/20, 4:30 p.m.
#SnowFire — all evacuations for the Snow Fire in Riverside County have been canceled. Fire crews may still be working in some areas. Please use caution when returning to your home.
9/20/2020, 7:00 a.m.
The fire is now 6,013 acres & 20% contained. The evacuation order for the Snow creek area has been lifted. The evacuation warning for the Windy Point community remains in place. Please take caution when returning home.
9/19/2020, 7:48 a.m.
The fire has grown to 4,500 acres, containment is at 8%, according to Captain Herrera with Cal Fire.
9/18/2020, 6:00 p.m.
The fire has grown to 4,200 acres, containment remains at 5%.
#SnowFIRE EVENING UPDATE 09/18/2020 6:00 P.M. - The Fire is now 4,200 acres and 5% contained. All evacuation warnings and orders remain in place until further notice. This will be the final update of the evening unless significant activity dictates otherwise overnight. pic.twitter.com/OvgpSqyxfM
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) September 19, 2020
9/18/2020, 3:00 p.m.
The Snow Fire has grown to 3,500 acres with containment increasing to 5%. All evacuation warnings and orders remain in place until further notice.
News Channel 3's Shelby Nelson will speaks with evacuees and have the latest update in a live report at 5 and 6 p.m. on News Channel 3.
Download the News Channel 3 app on the Apple Store or Google Play for the latest updates on the fire, including acreage, containment, or evacuation notices.
9/18/2020, 12:30 p.m.
The Snow Fire continues to burn at 2,500 acres with 0% containment. The steep terrain, high temperatures, and strong winds are making the battle challenging for firefighters.
Snow Fire: After overnight battle to save homes, wind and high temperatures challenge firefighters
CalFire Captain Herrera said, "Air tankers are painting red retardant line completely around the higher elevation to keep it boxed in so it doesn't move forward downward into the Highway 111 corridor, threatening the Windy Point community."
Overnight Thursday into Friday, it was a defensive battle to save homes.
"Last night we had a really challenging, hard night," Herrera said,"with fire backing down into the Snow Creek community, threatening a lot of those homes."
Herrera says firefighters were set up overnight for structure defense and says they were successful in saving the homes from the threat of fire.
9/18/2020, 10:20 a.m.
The Snow Fire is now reported to have grown to 2,500 acres.
Do you need to evacuate? Put your address in the map below to find out more information.
EVACUATION WARNING: South of Overture Drive. North of Overture Drive. East of Clearwater Way. West of Highway 111.
EVACUATION ORDER: For the entire Snowcreek area. North of Cottonwood Road. Southeast of Snowcreek Road. West of Falls Creek.
EVACUATION POINT: A temporary evacuation point has been established at the James A. Venable Community Center located at 50390 Carmen Avenue in Cabazon.
HELP AVAILABLE: Evacuees needing assistance can call (760) 646-3824
News Channel 3 has a team of reporters assigned to cover the fire and will have live updates on air at noon, and starting tonight at 5:00 p.m.
9/17/2020
A vehicle fire that spread to vegetation at the base of a hill on Snow Creek Road in Palm Springs has now burned 1,200 acres.
“Heard an explosion kind of a thing and saw smoke billowing up and walked down the road it seemed that a car blew up," said Emily Randall.
An evacuation order has been issued for the entire Snowcreek area. north of Cottonwood, south east of Snowcreek, west of Falls Creek.
Evacuation warnings were issued for the areas South of Overture Drive. North of Overture Drive. East of Clearwater Way. West of Highway 111 shortly before 6:30 p.m.
ALERT RIVCO— #SnowFire (unincorporated Palm Springs/Cabazon area) Evacuation Warning issued for the area South of and North of Overture, East of Clearwater and West of HIghway 111. Follow @CALFIRERRU for updates. pic.twitter.com/NYmVhKrIH1
— RivCoReady (@RivCoReady) September 18, 2020
“This is different," said Giles. "The last fire was down by the orchard and i could look down the road and see it so we were able to get out so it went that way.”
Captain Fernando Herrera tells News Channel 3 that the wind-driven flames are a challenge for firefighters who are already stretched thin.
Herrera said there are 200-300 homes that could be threatened.
According to the California Highway Patrol and CalFire, a vehicle caught on fire on Snow Creek Road at around 2:36 p.m. It's unclear what started the car fire, but the flames were spread quickly due to the wind and dry conditions.
AIR QUALITY ADVISORY UPDATE: an additional #SmokeAdvisory has been issued for the #SnowFire burning between #Cabazon and #Whitewater: https://t.co/Y158OoPtBX #PalmSprings pic.twitter.com/JscuMQYXkv
— South Coast AQMD (@SouthCoastAQMD) September 18, 2020
A spokesperson for Cal Fire Riverside confirmed at 3 p.m. that the fire was half an acre and is burning at a moderate rate of spread.
By 3:50 p.m., the fire grew to 100 acres and is burning at a critical rate of spread. By 4 p.m., officials confirmed the fire was at 200 acres.
By 5 p.m. the fire was at 500 acres with 0 percent containment. The fire grew to 1,200 acres by 7:30 p.m.
The Palm Springs Fire Department has been called to assist. An aircraft is also on order, according to Cal Fire. A total of 215 firefighters are at the scene with 33 fire engines, 4 air tankers, 2 helicopters, and 7 fire crews.
Other agencies assisting in the area include the Bureau of Land Management, Morongo Fire Department, and the United States Forest Service – San Bernardino.
One eyewitness to the fire posted on Twitter, "Incredibly rapid spread - just arrived for the weekend and already had to evacuate!" as he shared images of the smoke and flames in the area.
Download the News Channel 3 app on the Apple Store or Google Play for the latest updates on the fire, including acreage, containment, or evacuation notices.
Stay with News Channel 3 on-air or online at KESQ.com for the continuing updates.
