“All you can think of is ‘there goes your business, and thank god for the fire department… because they were here in minutes.”
William Sellers owns and runs WS Plumbing located in Yucca Valley, right off Highway 62 between Acoma and Apache Trail. He and his crew were inside his business on Thursday morning when the power went. But other than losing lights inside and cameras to the back alley, the blinking power grid wasn’t something they were too worried about. Kimberly Johnson was working inside when about 15 to 20 minutes later she said they got a knock on the door…
“…from across the street at KK Rents. They opened our door and said ‘your buildings on fire, get out!'”
When she and her coworkers exited out the back of their business on Acoma Trail they found billowing black smoke and flames surrounding a power pole in the northeast corner of their lot.
According to Kimberly, a single engine from theSan Bernardino County Fire Dept. was on their way back from a traffic collision call when they saw the smoke and flames – pulling into the business right as dispatch notified them of the blaze.
When Z107.7 arrived at around 11:30 a.m. the fire was extinguished and firefighters were performing mop up operations.
“We were lucky that the wind was going that way (motioning south) so it burned the outhouses down and all of my fittings for the sewer project.”
Damage appears limited to sewage parts that Sellers had ordered for a job and two porta-potties outside the fence that had completely melted down into a pool of charred plastic.
On Wednesday the Morongo Basin was still in the middle of a red flag warning, which alerts residents of high speed sustained winds that could easily spread a fire to neighboring properties.
“A flame, an ember can go for half a mile or a mile. We’re trying to figure out how it started, we just can’t figure it out.”
As for the cause of this fire – no one knows yet. We’ve reached out to Southern California Edison and the San Bernardino County Fire Department – both who were onsite when Z107.7 arrived but had left shortly after. Power remained out in the area for most of the basin until it was restored in the late afternoon on Thursday.
Flames appear to have reached the first set of lines on the power pole, with the surrounding area covered in charred and melted plastic and PVC from plumbing supplies. He estimates the damages to his business is around $10,000 dollars.
“I can replace this tomorrow. I’m just happy that everybody in the building is ok and safe.”
Most of the hi-desert remains in a red flag warning as high winds continue to be forecast through the weekend.
