Thousand Palms fire forces evacuations, affects 20 acres, cause 'under investigation'

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The Riverside County Fire Department battled a fire in Thousand Palms on Monday. | Riverside County Fire Department/Facebook

Residents were forced to evacuate as a fire broke out and spread to 20 acres of land on Monday in a Thousand Palms neighborhood, a news report from NBC Palm Springs said. Area residents could not return home until the following day as the evacuation order remained in place until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"The cause of the fire was under investigation," the news report said. "No injuries or property damage were reported."

The Riverside County Fire Department received a call at 6:37 p.m. on Monday about a brush fire on the 29000 block of Calle Castillo Lane in Thousand Palms, the news report said. The fire began in mulch but had already spread to adjacent palm trees by the time firefighters got to the scene. By 8 p.m., 20 acres of land were affected. Five structures also were impacted by the fire.  

Fire crews from nine fire engines and one battalion chief fought the blaze, the report said. Conditions allowed a shelter-in-place order to be lifted at midnight on Tuesday, and the evacuation order was lifted at 5:30 p.m.  

The fire was fully contained by Wednesday, and fire crews cleared the scene at 1:20 a.m.