Fire in Mountain Center darkens Palm Springs ...

[Florian]

Flames visible along the ridge lines west of Palm Springs this evening.

-Florian

[Hikin_Jim]

Here's a pretty good interactive wildfire map link. You can overlay the USGS topo map over the fire's perimeter, so you can get a fairly precise idea of what's been hit.

I can see that Antsell, Apache, and Spitler have been overtaken by the main body of the fire. Palm View Peak has partially burned. Cone Peak has so far been spared.

Apple Canyon is entirely in the burn zone, but I hear that the Zen Center has not burned. Don't know how that could be possible.

The fire has burned right down to Fobes Saddle and Fobes Ranch, but Fobes Ranch is not within the perimeter. The spot where I camped on night 2 of my four day Desert Divide trip is within the burn area.

Cedar Spring is right on the edge of the burn area. Doesn't look good.

HJ

[Ulysses]

PE is reporting that Idyllwild is under mandatory evacuation. Sounds like the fire may have crossed South Ridge.

[hvydrt]

Here is the map as of 9:10pm Wed that Hikin Jim mentioned above:

[zippetydude]

Not likin' that picture at all. The fire will run uphill any chance it gets, so the slopes before it are probably indefensible. Idyllwild is roughly at a level zone so the forward pressure (hopefully) will be reduced unless the wind begins to press in that direction. The scope of this fire is huge. Keeping all those affected in our thoughts and prayers.

z

[cynthia23]

I'm safely back from Hemet with my son in tow, nonplussed but none the worse for wear. Thanks for your good thoughts and prayers, I'm sure it helped. The evacuation center at Hemet High was well pretty much a madhouse--a couple thousand kids, miscellaneous animals, and only about a hundred beds. Hopefully most will be able to connect with friends and family and find a bed. And hopefully Idyllwild will still be there when they go back.

[Backwoods]

Well it's 12:08 thursday morning I'm still in IDY and all is well as far as the town goes. I can't even see a glow behind Tahquitz and I have been cheking every hour.

[halhiker]

The fire in Palm Springs looks fairly low on the mountain north of Andreas Canyon in the chaparral above Os Wit Canyon. There's also a glow from behind the ridge that looks like it's coming from Tahquitz Canyon. I don't even want to think about where it goes from there.

[some guy]

Here's the perimeter as of last night's 9pm IR flight:


http://goo.gl/maps/lh7RS

IR mapped the fire @ 20,998 acres.

Here's the kml: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80564134/20130718_Mountain_IR.kmz

Will be interesting to see where the fire moves today....

[HH8]

I'm safely back from Hemet with my son

Safe is best.