Month: July 2025

Jesus Reyes

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) – Firefighters are working to put out a tamarisk tree fire burning near Interstate 10 near the Bob Hope exit.

CAL FIRE confirmed the fire is an eighth of an acre and is burning at a slow rate of spread.

There is no impact on the freeway or any nearby roadways.

Resources are expected to remain at the scene for about an hour and a half, according to CAL FIRE.

Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates.

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Kendall Flynn

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – The City of Desert Hot Springs in partnership with the Greater Palm Springs Animal Allies is opening its new Desert Community Animal Center Wednesday for all residents.

The City has not had a veterinary clinic since 2018, and pet owners had to travel far distances in a time or need or emergencies. Longtime resident Peter Carlson said this has been difficult to do, and he’s been waiting for a local clinic.

“We’ve not really had anything here, we’ve had to go to Thousand Palms, Palm Springs [and] Beaumont,” Carlson said. “We know we can come here and get the care for our family members. They kind of really are for us, so it’s about time.”

The animal center will provide low-cost services to all guests, which the Greater Palm Springs Animal Allies Executive Director Dan Rossi said was an important aspect of bringing it to the local community.

“Our services will be affordable,” Rossi said. “They’ll be on a sliding scale to help anybody depending on their income level.”

Desert Hot Springs Mayor Scott Matas said it will fill the needs of everyone in the community, including his own as a pet owner. Officials are unsure of how many animals they’re expecting to see at the facility, but they do anticipate being busy.

Matas also hopes the center will help with the City’s greater need for upgrades for its Animal Care and Control services. Desert Hot Springs announced this week on social media it will be slowly making changes to the care and control programs by creating a new strategy for pet adoptions.

While the animal center is not directly affiliated with either of the City’s Animal Care and Control facilities, officials hope the low-cost spay and neuter services will help reduce stray population and overall aiding the shelters cause.

“When it comes to your animals, just make sure that they’re spayed and neutered – they’re chipped” Mayor Matas said. “You have those opportunities here in Desert Hot Springs now to get that done at a very low cost rate that helps us control the population.”

DHS residents agree with this sentiment and hope it will also influence people to adopt pets from their local sanctuaries.

“Hopefully with this facility here and our animal shelter here, people will know that they have a place to bring a rescue,” Carlson said. “I think that knowing there’s a facility right next door that they can bring whatever animal they adopted, maybe they’re more likely to adopt.”

Stay with News Channel 3 to hear from residents and officials on what this new animal center bring to Desert Hot Springs.

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Tori King

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ)– Have you ever wondered what happens to all of the illegal fireworks that are confiscated by Police Departments on the Fourth of July?

According to Cathedral City Fire and EMS, they are collected by the Cathedral City Police Department and dropped off at Fire Station #2.

“Once the fireworks are seized from the homeowners, we transport them to the fire department,” said Nathaniel Hanley, a Police Commander with CCPD. “Because they have a safer place to store them than here at the police department, and they are more familiar with explosives and anything that can be flammable or spark a fire.”

From there, they are stored inside a safe room until CalFire is able to send a team to pick them up and destroy them.

This year, the pile of seized fireworks was the smallest its ever been.

“When I came in on Monday and looked at this, I was like, is this it,” Cathedral City Fire and EMS Chief Michael Contreras. “Because in previous years we had a lot more than this. And so it’s a good thing we had so little, it really means people are listening to the laws.” In year’s past, the amount of fireworks confiscated would fill several truck loads. This year, the tiny pile of mortars, sparklers, and fountains only fit inside a small trunk.

Officials, including Chief Contreras, believe the city’s aggressive and extensive marketing blitz all over town may have helped spread awareness of illegal firework prevention, as well as the consequences if caught with them in your possession.

“Our campaign that we put out on the bus stops, on the side of all Cathedral City vehicles, that completely focus on safety, it really paid off this year,” said Contreras. “Just says a lot to who we are as a city. We really focus on the safety of our people, and this is just an extension of that. We were successful this year, we’re probably going to have to step it up next year so that we continue to build a safe community.”

City leaders also credit the community with this year’s success, adding that residents made smart choices that kept their neighbors accountable, and their neighborhoods safe.

“In years past, we’ve had houses catch on fire, yards and trees catch on fire, and structures,” said Hanley. “This year we had none of that. So we’re extremely thankful to our community for listening.”

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