Residents awoken by overnight flare-ups at Palm Desert mobile home park fire; Students return to classes nearby
Strong winds in the Coachella Valley caused a fire to spread at a mobile home park in Palm Desert, leading to evacuations of residents and nearby schools, injuries to firefighters, and damage to several homes.
Firefighters were called back to the park two times overnight Tuesday into Wednesday as hot spots flared up. One call was at 2:15 a.m. as a neighboring home caught fire. A second fire call was issued an hour later next door to the home that initially caught on fire.
#PortolaIC [UPDATE] Firefighters contained the flames at 3:55 AM to the original unit involved with no damage resulting to neighboring structures.
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) February 23, 2022
CAL FIRE reported the cause of the fire was an electrical accident. The fire occurred at the Portola Palms Mobile Home Park in Palm Desert on the 43000 block of Portola Avenue. It was first reported at 1:25 p.m.
Firefighters arrived at the scene and found a fully involved double-wide mobile home. A second alarm has been requested. A third alarm was quickly requested, as well as assistance from the Cathedral City and Palm Springs fire departments.
The fire became a four-alarm fire at 3:19 p.m. after multiple structures and palm trees once again caught on fire, CAL FIRE confirmed.
CAL FIRE reported that two firefighters suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
One mobile home was destroyed, 4 additional homes were damaged (1 outside of the mobile home park).
A firefighter with @CALFIRERRU discovered this feline at a fire in Palm Desert this afternoon. We are transporting kitty to our shelter in Thousand Palms for examination & care. Cat appears OK. @RivCoNow @RivCoReady Emergency Management team responded too. pic.twitter.com/w59LZtMa8d
— RivCO animalSERVICES (@helpinRIVcoPETS) February 23, 2022
EVACUATIONS
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department evacuated the entire mobile park, as well as students at the nearby Palm Desert Charter Middle School and Abraham Lincoln Elementary.
Students were expected to return to classes Wednesday morning, many having to return to the classrooms where they had to leave behind their backpacks and other personal belongings Tuesday during evacuations. Palm Desert Charter Middle School emailed students telling them to be on campus at 7:50 a.m. to reclaim their possessions.
Parents for both schools were told to pick their kids up at the Rutledge gate Tuesday as school let out. Students were moved behind the 800 building away from the fire, as the smoke caused some breathing issues, a parent told News Channel 3.
"Students at both Abraham Lincoln and Palm Desert Charter Middle School were evacuated from their buildings to fields at the far end of campuses just prior to dismissal. We are dismissing students parent notification now taking place," writes Mary Perry, spokesperson for DSUSD.
"Dear Parents and Students,We had to evacuate school during 7th period in an abundance of caution as a fire raged across Portola, closely approaching Lincoln School. The timeline of events happened rapidly when the fire surged our way due to the wind. No sooner had we pulled the fire alarm and students quickly headed to their evacuation site when sheriff officers redirected most 6th-graders and teachers to the front parking lot. At the same time, the Sheriff Resource Officer directed 7th and 8th-grade students and their teachers towards the bus gate. Teachers did a tremendous job of keeping homerooms together in this fluid situation. I want to thank the faculty and staff for pitching in to help soothe student nerves, reunite parents with their children, and organize a pick-up plan in a challenging situation. Additionally, I'd like to thank our parents. I appreciate your patience while we swiveled to find a new reunification system. Thank you for remaining calm while we evacuated over 1000 students out of the bus gate and 400 students from the Pavillion. I realize many of you had to wait while we located your student. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement as we met this daunting task head-on. Finally, I want to give our amazing students a shout-out. Every day I come to work, I feel so fortunate we have such incredible students. Today, when faced with a new situation, our students remained cooperative and calm. Today's evacuation was an eye-opener. We practice evacuations monthly and our reunification plan twice a year. We have a secondary and tertiary evacuation point off-campus if our school site is unsafe. The Safety Committee will do a debrief after gathering parent and faculty feedback. In closing, today illustrates how important we take the safety of our students. We will take action to keep them safe, we will improvise as necessary, and we will work together to improve constantly."
- Letter from Palm Desert Charter Middle School Principal to parents following evacuations
The fire was contained to just the park. There was one structure lost and no reports of injuries, the Sheriff's Dept. confirmed.
Residents from another nearby trailer park on the 43100 block of Portola Avenue are also being evacuated as a precaution.
The Red Cross has been called to assist residents affected by the fire.
Roads in the area were closed for nearly five hours. All roads were back open by 5:51 p.m.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.
HIGH WIND WARNING
Strong winds in the Coachella Valley prompted a First Alert Weather Alert through Wednesday morning.
Full Details: First Alert Weather Alert Day continues through Wednesday
A High Wind Warning is in effect for the Coachella Valley through Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. Gusts within the warned area could reach near 70 MPH in wind-prone mountain pass locations
If you haven't already, download the KESQ First Alert app HERE, and keep up with the forecast wherever and whenever 24/7!
