Thousands flee wildfire in California mountains

MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. — Thousands of residents have fled their homes

in the San Jacinto Mountains as a wildfire that grew to 35 square

miles early Thursday continues to burn under tinderbox conditions.



STORY: Wildfire burns 7 homes, threatens more

STORY: Calif. fire burns toward Palm Springs



On Wednesday, the fire outgunned nearly 3,000 firefighters and

prompted the evacuation of about 6,000 residents and visitors in

Idyllwild, Fern Valley and nearby wilderness areas including Mount San

Jacinto State Park during what usually is a busy summer tourist

season. About 2,200 homes were evacuated and 4,100 residences

including hotels, condominiums and cabins were threatened, Forest

Service spokeswoman Melody Lardner said.



"This fire is moving pretty fast and we're getting such strange winds

and weather that they're changing on us frequently," Incident

Commander Jeanne Pincha-Tulley said. "We're erring on the side of

caution to get people out as soon as we can."



A Girl Scout camp and another camp for special needs children also

were evacuated because of air-quality concerns. A church retreat had

significant damage, but horses that had to remain as campers fled are

safe, said Sandy Roberts, executive secretary of the Southern

California Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.



By Wednesday night, flames were visible in Palm Springs, a city of

almost 50,000 that started out about a dozen miles from the fire's

origin. The fire has split into two fronts, one advancing northeast

toward Palm Springs, another east toward Palm Desert.

"Up on the ridge, you're seeing 40- to 60-foot flame lengths. And when

you have flame lengths that large, the crews can't engage directly on

the fire because the intensity is just too high," said Dennis Burns, a

fire behavior analyst who was among the firefighters at a helicopter

base on a meadow below the burning ridges.



Temperatures were expected to linger near 100 degrees for the next two

days before a weekend cooling trend with a slight chance of rain. The

fire, dubbed the Mountain Fire because of its start around 1:45 p.m.

Monday just north of this community of fewer than 100 people, is 15

percent contained.



"The slightest little spark is going to make a run and torch trees,"

said Tina Rose, a spokeswoman for the California Department of

Forestry and Fire Protection. "It's just so bone dry." Some of the

area had not burned in 35 years.



Costs to fight it have escalated to $4.5 million, and its cause

remains under investigation.



The wildfire damaged or destroyed seven homes soon after it broke out

Monday, and firefighters have been able to stave off serious damage

since.



The blaze damaged one house and destroyed three others, three mobile

homes, a cabin, a garage and about a half dozen vehicles, the U.S.

Forest Service said. Eleven outbuildings, a commercial building and

several smaller structures also were lost, a total of 23 buildings so

far.



The fire was burning about 12 miles from the site of the 2006

Esperanza wildfire that killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters

and destroyed 34 homes.



Contributing: The Associated Press