Residents of tiny Morongo Valley were put on evacuation alert Monday as a runaway wildfire, whipped by sporadic summer winds, loomed closer to the San Bernardino County desert community, the state Department of Forestry said.
About 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze, started Friday by an overheated electrical cord being used to charge a tractor battery in Riverside County near Cabazon. Throughout the weekend, the fire burned mostly rugged terrain in sparsely inhabited areas, destroying a trailer, two small buildings and several vehicles.
