Yucca Valley fire fighters were called to two fires Monday afternoon. County Fire Captain Rick Denison said shortly before 1 p.m., shelving units, cabinets, and electronic equipment were burning in a large pile in a back yard of a home in the 6100 block of Mandarin Road. Neighbors were attempting to control the fire with garden hoses. Radiant heat from the fire scorched a Toyota pick-up truck and a boat parked nearby, but the prevailing winds kept the fire away from the house. Fire fighters from Yucca Valley, Yucca Mesa, and Joshua Tree had the fire under control in about 15 minutes. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Fire fighters barely had time to catch their breath before they were called to a second fire in the 6300 block of Linda Lee Drive. Denison said the residents had forgotten about something baking in the oven until the smoke alarm alerted them to the fire. The entire house was filled with smoke when fire fighters arrived about 3:10 p.m. Flames from the oven fire scorched nearby cabinets. Fire fighters used fire extinguishers to put out the fire. A cat and her kittens were in another room behind a closed door and were unharmed. The home suffered heavy smoke damage. Denison urged residents, in case of oven fires, to keep the oven door closed, turn off the heat, and to keep a small fire extinguisher in the kitchen.
