Five center-of-town businesses were open Thursday following the previous evening’s evacuation and remained so throughout the evacuation. Fifteen customers graced the Red Kettle restaurant at 9:15 Thursday morning. Most appeared to be residents, but a few were fire-related personnel, including freelance fire photographer Jenny Kirchner. Fire photographer Jenny Kirchner had placed herself in the thick…
Due to several consecutive years of state budget reductions, the Riverside Superior Court is reducing services to the public. Effective immediately, the court will offer limited in-person, and no live operator telephone service for litigants with traffic cases. In place of in-person service, the court is automating many routine tasks through available computers, kiosks and…
The Mountain Fire city had its own airport located at the historic Garner Ranch in Garner Valley. The helibase supported nearly 20 different helicopters, including 11 Type 1 birds. The main topic during Sunday’s briefing at the airport was the weather report because of the early morning rain and the prospect for more later that…
Residents who are customers of Idyllwild and Fern Valley water districts do not need to boil their water following the Mountain Fire. Both districts treat the water before it enters the distribution system. Further, IWD’s water comes from wells, not streams, therefore is free of ash and other debris. Fern Valley does divert some water,…
“If you’re expecting ‘long hair’ music, nothing could be further from truth,” said Christian Chalifour, Desert Chamber Orchestra director. The orchestra with two soloists, Vanessa Sheldon, harpist, and Lawrence Spector, guitar, will be the next guests at the Idyllwild Summer Concert Series on Thursday, Aug. 1, at the Idyllwild Community Center site. Demonstrating Chalifour’s musical…
Idyllwild Rotary Club members and members of the Idyllwild Fire Protection District Auxiliary invite everyone to join them in a casual “Welcome Home” celebration and a free hot dog and beverage at 5 p.m in the Idyllwild Community Center site just prior to Thursday night’s concert. The hot dog stand will remain open as long…
The U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies have a new fire safety campaign in California. The One Less Spark, One Less Wildfire campaign provides constant reminders during this fire season to reduce the numbers of human-caused vehicle and equipment wildfires throughout the state. “All the stories we hear about sparks starting wildland fires…
2:33 P.M. UPDATE: A promotional video about Idyllwild: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlCKH5O_T9o 8:40 A.M. UPDATE: Monday morning began with sunny skies over Idyllwild and the noise of traffic moving through town. As people began to return to homes and businesses, thoughts of gratitude were dominant besides the need to recover from the forced four-day leave of absence. Patrons…
The Incident Management Team is containing its nemesis, the Mountain Fire. As of Monday evening, July 22, the fire had burned 27,332 acres, but was 85 percent contained. Full containment was expected Wednesday, July 24. Fire officials stressed the larger size was not due to the fire spreading, rather more accurate infrared mapping established the…
The Riverside County Waste Management Department is seeking volunteers to work with the Riverside County Backyard Composting Program. Volunteer master composters attend a training course for four Saturdays, and then donate back a minimum of 40 hours to the program. Volunteers are needed for staffing Saturday morning workshops, classroom presentations and community group presentations. Learn…
