Evacuations partially lifted in Calimesa for areas affected by Sandalwood fire
Some of the residents who had to flee their Calimesa homes on Thursday as the Sandalwood fire threatened were permitted to return Saturday, officials announced.
The Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park, which was most severely damaged by the fire and where two people were found dead, is still not accessible.
But the evacuation order for areas north of that park was lifted at 1 p.m. Saturday, according to the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.
(1/4) #SandalwoodFire As of 1 p.m. October 12th, evacuations have been lifted for THE AREA NORTH OF the Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park only.
The EVACUATION ORDER REMAINS for the Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park.
— CAL FIRE Riverside (@CALFIRERRU) October 12, 2019
One of the communities that has reopened, the South Mesa Mobile Home Park, is still without gas service, fire officials said in a tweet. “Please be patient while SoCal Gas quickly and safely reaches each home.”
Anyone who smells gas should call 911. For questions about gas restoration, fire officials said to call the utility at 1-800-427-2200.
Residents were told to use County Line Road to return home. Seventh Street between Villa Calimesa Road and Sandalwood Drive remains closed, fire officials said.
Cathey Mattingly, a Cal Fire spokeswoman, said she had no estimate for when the remaining evacuation orders would be lifted.
“There’s still a lot of work to do,” she said, both on the firefighting side and relating to the death investigations.
Among the time-consuming overhaul work required, several large trees in the mobile home park burned, and those have large root systems. Firefighters have to check that there aren’t any hot coals or areas of smoldering fire that could flare back up.
The Sandalwood fire, which started when a load of burning trash was dumped, burned 1,011 acres and destroyed 76 structures, and was 68% contained by Saturday evening.