Surging wildfire in Southern California mountains burns 7 homes, threatens dozens more

A wildfire in mountains west of Palm Springs burned seven homes and led to the evacuation of dozens more, officials said. The blaze destroyed three houses, damaged another and destroyed three mobile homes, a cabin, a garage and about a half-dozen vehicles, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement Tuesday. The wildfire started Monday between Palm Springs and Hemet, near the rural Riverside County community of Mountain Center, and a day later had surged to about 14 square miles. More than 2,200 firefighters and 25 aircraft had the blaze 10 percent contained. It was mostly moving east toward the desert and away from small communities of homes, summer cabins and ranches in the San Jacinto mountains.