Coachella Valley Debris Fire 20 Percent Contained: Smoke Persists

THOUSAND PALMS, CA—Roughly five acres of 20-by-20-foot mulch piles, situated near a landscape company, were still burning Tuesday as firefighters worked to douse the blaze. The mulch and landscape debris caught fire early Monday morning in the unincorporated Thousand Palms area, filling the Coachella Valley with smoke, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department said.

According to a Cal Fire spokesperson, "Smoke will continue to be visible throughout the valley Tuesday and Wednesday as the heavy equipment spreads the piles out so that smoldering mulch deep in the piles can be extinguished."

The blaze began sometime before 2:30 a.m. at a private property on Vista Chino near the 27000 block of Rio Del Sol Road, Cal Fire spokesperson Maggie De La Rosa told Patch.

"The burning mulch piles are quite large and about 15 feet high," she said.