Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Wildfire prompts evacuations of 200 homes in California

 
 As you are heading east on Interstate 10 Beaumont and Banning are where the Semi Arrid lands of Los Angeles, San Bernadino and Riverside start to turn into the hotter more desert regions nearer to Palm Springs where temperatures in the 120s are not that unusual this time of year. Whereas in Los Angeles 110 or 115 might be the highest temperature you will see all year. But, Palm Springs might have temperatures over 100 from June through September or even October some years and on one day or another you might see 120, 125 or even up to 127 degrees on a really hot year one day. So, Beaumont and Banning are where the weather starts to change toward being more hot and desert like Palm Springs can be. But, also Palm Springs can also be 70s or 80s even in December, January or February during winter which is why so many people go there to play golf and relax during winters there. I have experienced over 120 degrees in Palm Springs as well as have been caught in sand storms there too. You really don't want to get caught out in one because it could take the skin off your face if you don't have a car to get into or a house or building to get into. So, don't walk into sand storms thinking you will be okay. Because you can get sand everywhere, into your eyes, throat, ears and deep into your clothing as well as burning off your skin that is exposed in the high winds. It can be like getting sand blasted. I was once at age 6 in a sand storm in death valley where it completely took the paint off the car I was riding in right down to the metal. Imagine what it could do to you?

BANNING, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire that tore through brush east of Los Angeles forced 700 people from their homes for several hours Tuesday and destroyed a small building, officials said. The fast-moving fire prompted the …

Wildfire prompts evacuations of 200 homes in California

Updated 11:50 pm, Tuesday, August 30, 2016
BANNING, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire that tore through brush east of Los Angeles forced 700 people from their homes for several hours Tuesday and destroyed a small building, officials said.
The fast-moving fire prompted the evacuations as it raced through 1.5 square miles of drought-dry hills near Banning, the Riverside County Fire Department said.
It was 10 percent contained by nightfall, and the evacuations, most of which were from a mobile home park, were canceled.
Two people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.
An assisted living center with 10 seniors had to be evacuated as flames came within about 300 yards.
"We have some in wheelchairs, some in walkers, and some get along pretty well on their own," Richard Feenstra, owner of Cherry Valley Lodge, told the Riverside Press-Enterprise. "It took about 30 minutes to get everybody out of the building and across the street."
The blaze erupted shortly before 12:30 p.m. in the unincorporated Cherry Valley area and has thrown up a line of 25-foot-high flames. Winds gusting to about 20 mph and tinder-dry fuel are helping propel the blaze.
More than 300 firefighters and more than a dozen aircraft are battling the flames.
Officials did not give a cause, but said they were seeking witnesses to the activities of children near the gate to a nature park where the fire started.
 

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