Residents under evacuation warning watchful as 6,013 acre Snow Fire continues to grow
As of Saturday the 6,013-acre Snow Fire burning in Palm Springs has already forced the evacuation of the Snow Creek Village community since it first sparked Thursday at around 2:30 p.m. As of Saturday evening firefighters were able to get 15% containment.
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According the California Highway Patrol, the fire started when a vehicle caught on fire at the base of a hill on Snow Creek Road. The flames jumped to nearby vegetation and began burning at a critical rate-of-spread.
"You see more rocky area with less fuel, nevertheless, it’s dry there is fuel there, add the wind component and it carries," said Riverside County Fire Department Public Information Officer, Capt. Fernando Herrera.
Crews that were battling other fires, such as the El Dorado Fire burning in the San Bernardino National Forest, responded to the Snow Fire. Capt. Herrera said despite resources being stretched thin because of other fires, on Friday they were able to receive a good amount of aid from the air.
"We have more than 4 air tankers. They’ll be working the higher elevation on the ridge-tops, dropping that retardant to box end that fire at the top of the ridge-top areas," said Capt. Herrera.
One of the main goals for crews on Friday was making sure the blaze did not reach nearby homes, nor the dense brush on the other side of the mountain.
As of Friday the Snow Creek Village remained under an evacuation order. On Thursday night firefighters successfully diverted the fire from engulfing homes.
"They engaged last night aggressively and were able to protect all those properties from receiving any damage or being destroyed," said Capt. Herrera.
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.
Some residents in the nearby community of Windy Point left Friday night but have since returned.
"We got everything together that we could, computers and the important stuff and all that. The dogs, we packed up the car and we left for a while," said Lamar Waters, a Windy Point resident.
Waters and his partner, along with nearby residents, were put on an evacuation warning.
"It was very stressful last night because we didn’t want to fall completely asleep. Not knowing--were we so exhausted-- if they did come and knock on their door maybe they wouldn't hear. I set an alarm so I would only sleep for maybe a half an hour at a time," Waters said.
An evacuation site has been set up in Cabazon at the James A Venable Community Center. The Red Cross is facilitating the emergency efforts and has placed families in hotels, while providing them food.
HELP AVAILABLE: Evacuees needing assistance can call (760) 646-3824
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