Fire Breaks Out In Coachella Campgrounds, No Injuries Reported
By Katrina Nattress
April 13, 2019
A fire broke out in the Coachella campgrounds early Saturday morning (April 13). As Consequence of Sound reports, the fire was caused by a mechanical failure of a heating unit in a mobile shower unit.
Its ignition was near the festival entrance and caused a commotion as campers waiting to use the shower saw flames bursting from the bathing trailer. "I’m waiting in line to shower and there’s a big fire in the campground! Like by the festival entrance. Wtf???" one concerned festival goer tweeted. Others reported hearing explosions and seeing campers running from the scene in nothing but towels.
Thankfully, the Riverside Fire Department (RFD) got to the scene around 2am and was able to successfully contain the "fully involved" fire. During their updates, the RFD reported that there was a total of two trailers involved — one damaged and one destroyed. "No reported injuries to fire personnel or civilians," they tweeted at 2:36am local time. "Fire crews will remain on scene for 1 hour for overhaul."
Check out footage from the incident and the RFD tweets below.
showers at Coachella campground caught on fire...
— 🍯 (@spxheda) April 13, 2019
“everybody out of the showers now!” - someone in their towel running out pic.twitter.com/WPPUHjXgxe
couple of explosion sounds heard by us campers - luckily fire seems to be out pic.twitter.com/r2LofmUyj3
— 🍯 (@spxheda) April 13, 2019
#CampIncident [UPDATE] 2:28 am - Fire Contained. Mobile Shower Unit in Lot 8 Storage Area. Total of 2 trailers involved. 1 damaged, 1 destroyed. No reported injuries to fire personnel or civilians. Fire crews will remain on scene for 1 hour for overhaul. #Coachella
— CAL FIRE Riverside (@CALFIRERRU) April 13, 2019
This isn't the only incident to plague Coachella this year. Before the festival began, a longtime stagehand tragically fell to his death while setting up a stage on the festival grounds.
Photo: Getty Images