A new, rapidly growing wildfire in Southern California has since starting on Monday. As of Tuesday, over 2,200 firefighters and 25 aircraft were battling the 14,200-acre Mountain fire west of Palm Springs, and had it about 10% contained.
Despite the destruction, the toll could have been much higher, the Forest Service said in a report, adding that firefighters’ efforts managed to protect a much larger number of homes. “Honestly, we thought that the structure destruction was greater than it is,” agency spokesman John Miller told the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
While firefighters hope that rain on Saturday could help shrink the blaze, they won’t get any relief until then: Temperatures in the Palm Springs area are forecast to exceed 100 degrees through Friday.
Via