California fire burns toward Palm Springs area
Baku, July 18 (AZERTAC). A wildfire that started Monday in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles has grown to 12.5 square miles in less than 24 hours but skirted an animal sanctuary less than a mile from where the fire first began. The Mountain Fire skipped over the property of Living Free Animal Sanctuary, a 153-acre refuge for cats and dogs founded in 1980, around 11:15 a.m. PT Tuesday, said Kim Laidlaw, executive director of Guide Dogs of the Desert. The animals and workers had left the area Monday afternoon after receiving a mandatory evacuation order.
The closest herd of bighorn sheep, an endangered species that ranges from the San Jacinto Mountains into Mexico's Baja Peninsula, are not in the path of the fire, according to Jim DeForge, executive director of the Bighorn Institute.
More than 650 firefighters are battling the blaze, which is about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, 15 miles east of Hemet, Calif., and almost 15 miles southwest of Palm Springs, Calif. It is 10% contained but is not threatening any populated areas, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. It is the largest active wildfire in the state, and its cause is being investigated.
"It would take a lot for Cathedral City to be threatened, even for the township of Palm Springs," said Fire Chief Robert Van Nortrick of Cathedral City, Calif., whose community also is about 20 miles northeast of the fire.
The fire is burning on steep and rugged U.S. Forest Service land that is pockmarked with private homes. Portions of the Pacific Crest Trail that go through the area are closed because of the danger.
The firefighters are dealing with "highly explosive vegetation ... and real nasty conditions and high temperatures," Cal Fire Capt. Mark Miller said. Temperatures in the mountains topped 80 degrees Tuesday with no chance of rain and humidity at less than 20%. Winds are from the west at 10 to 15 mph.
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