Fire Blackens 2,000 Acres Near Palm Springs; U.S. 111 Closed

More than 2,000 acres near Palm Springs burned Monday night, and firefighters battled to keep the flames away from the small community of Snow Creek Village.

No structural damage or injuries were reported as of late Monday, said Capt. Pixie Evans of the California Department of Forestry-Riverside County Fire Department.

There were some voluntary evacuations by 9:30 p.m., and U.S. 111 was closed from Interstate 10 to Overture Drive near Palm Springs, Evans said. Some homes were briefly threatened, but Evans said fire crews were standing by should the flames turn back toward Snow Creek Village, just outside Palm Springs.

The fire, which department spokeswoman Joanne Evans said was the result of arson, was on the Morongo Indian Reservation northwest of Palm Springs, about 10 miles southeast of Banning. It began about 1:30 p.m. Steep terrain and erratic winds hampered the 575 firefighters on the scene Monday night, authorities said.

Just before the blaze broke out south of Esperanza Road near Cabazon, crews had contained a wildfire in farm country southeast of Palm Springs.

The earlier blaze broke out Sunday about 35 miles southeast of Palm Springs near Mecca, fire officials said. It blackened 650 acres of mostly agricultural land before it was contained Monday, said Scott Heyermann, an engineer with the California Department of Forestry.

The cause of that fire was also under investigation.

A third fire charred about 300 acres of brush near Lancaster, north of Los Angeles, before being extinguished early Sunday. Officials said that blaze may have been arson.