6,013-Acre Snow Fire Reaches 52% Containment Near Palm Springs

PALM SPRINGS, CA — Firefighters succeeded Monday in cutting additional containment lines around the perimeter of a wildfire burning northwest of Palm Springs.

The Snow Fire — which was 52 percent contained as of 5 p.m. Monday — has blackened 6,013 acres since being sparked by a vehicle fire Thursday afternoon in the 15000 block of Snow Creek Road, according to Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

No injuries or structure damage have been reported.

Heading into the weekend, the flames were threatening about 450 homes in communities near Snow Creek and Windy Point, but firefighters mitigated the threat to those areas and canceled all evacuation edicts.

A temporary evacuation point established by the American Red Cross at the James A. Venable Community Center in Cabazon was shuttered following the rescinding of evacuation directives.

After a work truck caught fire north of Snow Creek about 2:40 p.m. Thursday, the fire spread to nearby vegetation and quickly grew to 1,200 acres by that evening. The flames spread into the San Bernardino National Forest and the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, prompting a multi-agency response.

By Saturday evening, the brusher had grown to 6,013 acres, but additional acreage has not been reported since that time.

A total of 215 firefighters remain assigned to the firefight from several agencies on Monday, including the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. They were being assisted by four Cal Fire aircraft and two water-dropping helicopters.

Fire officials did not provide an estimated timeframe for total containment.

Because of the smoke from the Snow, Bobcat and El Dorado fires, the South Coast Air Quality Management District extended its air quality advisory through Tuesday afternoon.