One adult and 5 dogs lose home to a fire in Palm Desert
Cal Fire Riverside County reported a house fire in Palm Desert early Sunday morning.
It happened just south of Fred Waring off of Portola Avenue and was reported at 5:27 a.m.
Residential Structure Fire in Palm Desert RPT @ 5:27 AM - 44300 Blk Lingo Ln. Firefighters are on scene of a fire involving a single family home w/power lines down. @redcross responding to asst 1 adult. Animal control responding to asst 7 dogs. #LingoIC @PalmDesertGov pic.twitter.com/1IQPBpKzvf
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) April 10, 2022
#LingoIC UPDATE- Fire contained. One adult and “5” dogs display, not 7 as originally reported. @SCE on scene repairing downed power lines. Resources committed several hours for overhaul.
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) April 10, 2022
Larry Cohen lived in his Palm Desert home for more than 10 years. He lost nearly everything in only a matter of minutes.
“It's very, very disheartening. Scary. It's really scary. I was crying all morning," said Cohen. “I heard explosions and I thought it was someone trying to break in... And first thing I thought was getting the dogs out.”
Southern California Edison was also at the home repairing some downed power lines nearby.
Cohen’s 88-year-old mother was set to move in soon.
“So, this really puts a damper on that. I've been renovating and cleaning it up and making it mom ready," said Cohen. “I just miss like, my children's pictures and things like that. And the dogs. Oh my god.”
Cohen had 10 dogs many of them puppies. But now, he only has five dogs. He said he doesn’t know if the others escaped or died in the fire.
“I hope no one has to go through something like this. Now I can really empathize. You know, you never know how bad it is till it happens to you," said Cohen “Just appreciate what you have. I know it's all temporary, that's a hard one for me to grasp.”
Cohen is getting aid from the Red Cross. The cause of the fire is still not known.
