County, City, School District Assisting Residents Displaced in Desert Hot Springs Fire

DESERT HOT SPRINGS – The Riverside County Emergency Management Department is coordinating with the City of Desert Hot Springs, county departments and State of California partners to open a Local Assistance Center for residents who were displaced in the mobile home park fire that broke out last week in Desert Hot Springs.

Image

The local assistance center is expected to be operational this week and will help transition residents from the shelter set up at Desert Hot Springs High School, including those who lost everything in the fire.

On July 18, a fire broke out at the Country Squire RV and Mobile Home Park in Desert Hot Springs, located in the 66000 block of Dillon Road. The Riverside County Emergency Management Department has deployed necessary resources to support the City of Desert Hot Springs and residents who were affected.

“The devastation is very high because many people have lost things in the fire, and some have lost everything they own,” said Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. “Our county departments as well as other agencies in our community are assisting residents through the response and recovery from this fire, and I want to thank the Palm Springs Unified School District for making the high school available to support the community. We are committed to bringing our agencies together to help the residents and the city during this time.”

“The City of Desert Hot Springs is grateful for the collaboration with our regional partners who banded together with us to provide much needed assistance to our residents devastated by this awful fire,” said Desert Hot Springs Mayor Scott Matas. “So many of our residents have lost everything, we are committed to ongoing assistance to those residents that have been affected.”

The fire caused the evacuation of the entire mobile home park, approximately 185 people, due to safety concerns. The Riverside County Housing and Workforce Solutions Department worked with the California Department of Housing and Community Development to inspect the conditions of homes and, late last week, the park had set up power, gas and utilities and the state gave approval to open the park to residents in the non-damaged homes.

Nine mobile homes were destroyed in the fire. The burned areas of the park have been fenced off, with posted signs of the hazards.

Efforts by county departments include:

• The Riverside University Health System – Behavioral Health brought mobile crisis teams to provide emotional support to the 58 families that were affected and to help people stay positive.
• RUHS – Public Health provided a public health nurse for the shelter to assist residents with medical needs while evacuated from their homes.
• Department of Public Social Services coordinated shelter operations, including working with the American Red Cross and the school district.
• District Attorney’s Office supplied dogs to assist in searching for potential victims.
• Riverside County Office on Aging ensured the needs of elderly residents were being met.
• First 5 Riverside County provided support for the children who were evacuated.
• Riverside County Department of Animal Services offered support and capacity to Desert Hot Springs Animal Services.
• Emergency Management Department: an Emergency Services Coordinator provides guidance on emergency management matters to the City of Desert Hot Springs under an existing agreement and has been a constant presence to assist the city and residents during the response and recovery to this fire, including acting as liaison between the city and county departments, state and federal agencies and non-profits.

###

Supervisor V. Manuel Perez represents the Fourth Supervisorial District on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The largest district in the county by geography, the 4^th District covers eastern Riverside County, from Whitewater, stretching across the entire Coachella Valley south to the Salton Sea, up Highway 74 to Idyllwild and the mountain communities, and heading east of the Coachella Valley to Blythe and the Colorado River.

Supervisor Perez’s office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.