Mountain Fire Update: Blaze 49 Percent Contained, 42 Square Miles Burned

Update 1:40 p.m. The congressman for the San Jacinto Mountains, the San Gorgonio Pass and the Coachella Valley planned to visit neighborhoods devastated by the 42-square-mile Mountain Fire on Saturday afternoon, according to his staff and the Forest Service.

"I'll be on the ground tomorrow meeting w/ officials at the Garner Valley Command Center and surveying the damage caused by the #MountainFire," Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert tweeted Friday July 19.

Ruiz planned to  speak with reporters near the Pine Springs Ranch, where some structures were damaged and destroyed the day the fire broke out, Monday July 15, according to the Forest Service.

County and state officials have already made emergency declarations for the Mountain Fire burned area and communities affected by it, which will help free up disaster assistance funds for continuing efforts to extinguish the blaze and recovery efforts.

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Moist air and cloud cover today were expected to aid the efforts of firefighters battling the massive Mountain Fire, which has burned 27,278 acres, forced thousands of people from their homes and destroyed 23 structures in the San Bernardino National Forest near Palm Springs.

The blaze, which officials say was the result of human activity, broke out Monday afternoon in the vicinity of highways 74 and 243, south of Mountain Center, and is 25 percent contained as of midnight, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

An evacuation warning was issued Friday morning for the community of Pine Cove near Idyllwild, advising anyone feeling threatened by fire to evacuate, and everyone in the area to prepare for a possible evacuation order, authorities said.

Three firefighters suffered slight smoke inhalation injuries in the first hours of the fire, which has destroyed 23 structures, including seven residences, authorities said. An area of more than 6,000 acres of the fire-charred land is part of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians' reservation, according to the tribe.

Containment had held steady at 15 percent, unchanged through the second half of the week, because the fire continued to grow even as crews cut new lines around it, said Forest Service spokesman Sheldon Keafer.

Firefighters today were working to extend containment lines on the fire's southern flank, officials said.

The moist air moving into the area brings with it the threat of thunderstorms, which could generate erratic winds capable of fanning the flames, Keafer said.

"It's kind of a mixed bag," he said. "You may get rain with the storm, but you may get the wind that will blow things out."

A total of 3,478 firefighters, 260 engines, two DC-10s and eight other fixed-wing aircraft, 20 helicopters, 30 water tenders and 15 bulldozers were deployed in battling the blaze as of Friday night.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday issued an emergency proclamation for Riverside County, making the it eligible for state and federal assistance. Newsom is acting governor while Gov. Jerry Brown is out of the state.

The cost of operations was $10.9 million as of Friday evening, according to the Forest Service.

Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, a Forest Service fire chief, said on Thursday that the fire has been determined to be "human-caused" and is being investigated.

Evacuation orders remained in force today in the communities of Trails End, Idyllwild and Fern Valley -- affecting as many as 6,000 people -- but residents of the Bonita Vista and Apple Valley areas have been allowed to return to their homes, according to the Forest Service.

On Wednesday, evacuation orders were issued for an area that includes Forest Service land and Mount San Jacinto State Park, San Jacinto Wilderness and the Trails End community at the north end of Morris Ranch Road near Garner Valley, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Riverside County sheriff's Capt. Scot Collins said law enforcement personnel are patrolling evacuated areas.

Evacuation centers have been opened at Hamilton High School in Anza and Hemet and Beaumont high schools, and evacuation centers for animals were set up at Lake Hemet Campground in Garner Valley and the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, according to the Forest Service.

Palm Springs hotels are offering discounted room rates for those affected by the fire, the city's tourism bureau announced on Thursday. A list of participating hotels is posted at www.visitpalmsprings.com.

Highway 243 was closed from Highway 74 to the Nature Center south of Pine Cove, but Highway 74, which had been closed from Cranston Station in Hemet to Highway 371, was reopened on Thursday, according to the Forest Service.

Smoke still hung over parts of the valley Friday. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was closed due to unhealthy air quality on Thursday and remained so on Friday. The Tahquitz and Indian canyons in the Palm Springs area will be closed to visitors until further notice because of the Mountain fire, according to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. The canyons, which cover a 56- square-mile area, are owned and maintained by the tribe.