Crews battled a fast-moving brush fire in Morongo Valley this afternoon that destroyed up to 10 homes and threatened hundreds of others. The fire had charred 250 acres and was uncontained at 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, another brush fire that had charred more than 1,000 acres and forced the evacuation of residents northeast of San Jacinto near the Soboba Indian Reservation continued to race into the hills.

Firefighting efforts in Morongo Valley were hindered by a shortage of equipment, most of which had been dispatched to the Soboba fire and another in the High Desert near Helendale.

"Equipment's at a premium right now," said Dave Dowling, communications manager for the San Bernardino County Fire Department. "We're scrambling to get equipment because of these other fires."
About 50 engines were battling the Morongo blaze this afternoon as they waited for reinforcements to arrive.

The fire started about 1 p.m. near Tecopa Drive and Paradise Avenue on the west end of Morongo Valley. By 4 p.m., the blaze was burning unchecked on both sides of Highway 62.

"It's running real hard on them," Dowling said.
Reports indicated that the fire had destroyed seven to nine homes and was threatening many others. The Covington Park Nature Area on the east side of Highway 62 was also threatened.

Dowling said he had heard that voluntarily evacuations were in effect for many of the town's residents.

Dowling described the area as a community of about 1,000 homes, many of them ranches.

"I'd compare it with Yucca Valley," he said.
Officials closed Highway 62 from Indian Avenue, just north of Desert Hot Springs to Hess Drive in Joshua Tree.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation.
The blaze dubbed the Soboba Fire started about 12:46 p.m. near Soboba Road and Lake Park Drive, said Jane Scribner of the California Department of Forestry/Riverside County Fire Information Section.

 
No homes had been lost by 5:30 p.m. but residents were asked to evacuate to the Soboba Casino area, Scribner said. The cluster of threatened million-dollar homes are just north of Soboba Hot Springs, fire officials said.
Riverside County sheriff's deputies, San Jacinto police and California Highway Patrol officers closed all of the roadways leading to the fire north of the Soboba Casino.

As of 5:30 p.m., more than 1,000 firefighters, six air tankers, three helicopters and other equipment was on scene battling the flames, fire officials said.
The cause of the Soboba fire remains under investigation, fire officials said. Scribner said authorities have no estimated time for containing or controlling the blaze.