Brush fire in Mecca grows to 127 acres, 75% contained
Update 05/16/23 6:30 p.m.
The fire is now 75% contained, Cal Fire officials said. It remains at 127 acres.
Officials said resources will remain on scene overnight as they work on full containment.
Update 05/16/23 1:10 p.m.
The fire is now 50% contained and the acreage burned remains at 127.
Firefighters continue working on full containment and control, Cal Fire confirmed.
Update 9:50 pm, 05/15/23
The fire is 127 acres and 15% contained, per CalFire.
Original Report 4:55pm, 05/15/23
A brush fire burning in Mecca has jumped from 3 to 5 acres to 110 acres in a few hours.
Fire crews responded near 66th Avenue and Highway 86 Expressway at about noon Monday to a report of a well-established vegetation fire, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
“With those extreme flame lengths, it’s very difficult for us to mitigate this incidents," said CalFire Battalion Chief Justin Karp.
By 2:30 p.m., the fire burned 50 acres, with authorities saying it had the potential to grow to 200 acres.
As of 4:45 p.m., the blaze has grown to 110 acres. By around 6:30 p.m., the fire was 5% contained, Cal Fire told News Channel 3's Samantha Lomibao.
Karp tells us at least 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters were on the ground battling those flames. A water dropping helicopter also assisted from above.
“We’re actually drafting, which is where we remove water from the canal with the fire engine to utilize that as well," Karp explained.
OES Intel 24, May 15 on the #66Fire, Riverside County. Fire is mapped at 108.4 acres at 16:17 hours. pic.twitter.com/q7czi1Oi97
— FIRIS (@FIRIS) May 16, 2023
"Firefighting operations being hampered by winds," reads a Cal Fire tweet.
The blaze was spreading at a medium rate of spread and posed a threat to nearby power lines, fire officials said. Imperial Irrigation District crews were called to the scene to assist.
"The relative humidity is around 8%. The winds are sustained at about 10 miles an hour with gusts to 15 coming out of the southeast, that's played a significant issue in today's incident we've had multiple spot fires including long distance spotting," Karp said.
Multiple city fire departments including Palm Springs, Hemet, Riverside and Cathedral City were assisting. Additional engines were requested to the scene by 4:50 p.m.
The California Highway Patrol closed Avenue 66 between Hwy 86 Expressway and Filmore Street. as crews mitigated the flames, according to fire officials. Pierce Street is also closed from 66th Ave to 64th Ave.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
No injuries were reported.
