Firefighters from Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, and Wonder Valley have responded to the brush fire burning out of control near Needles. The Pirate Fire, also known as the Topock Fire, started about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday in Havasu National Wildlife Refuge on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, but winds pushed the blaze onto the California side. A brush engine, medic engine, medic brush patrol, and battalion chief, as well as a helicopter, were called about 6 a.m. to join a strike team to fight the fire. So far, the blaze has burned about 1,500 acres, is 5 percent contained, and has damaged one structure, the Pirate’s Cove Bar, and others are threatened. Mandatory evacuations are in effect for Pirate’s Cove; the mandatory evacuation ordered for Park Moabi was lifted Thursday morning. Pirates Cove Resort is expected to be open for business Friday, April 8. The fire has been called “suspicious in nature.”
