An event with the pure heft of Coachella with some 50,000 to 60,000 people hanging out in the desert is bound to have a few medical or unlawful incidents. So far, year nine of Coachella is about as lawless as Disneyland’s Main Street. And most people haven’t succumbed to the hot, hot, heat.
Only five arrests were made as of Friday evening for drug- and alcohol-related incidents, said Indio Public Information Officer Ben Guitron.
By sunset, Riverside County Fire had to send just three people to the hospital for minor to moderate injuries. Only one person was considered in moderate to serious condition, said incident commander Raymond Paiz.
The only accident occured when a worker fell from a stage Friday while it was being set up, he said. The other injuries were heat-related.
Paiz said the department mobilized more of its crew in the venue itself, positioned in front of and in back of the stages, with ambulances parked inside.
“You learn as you go,” Paiz said. “We learned that we had more staff than we needed last year.”
While equipment and crews were lined in full force behind the VIP area last year, just Riverside County Fire’s communication’s headquarters remained this year. Paiz was pleased with the new strategy and said they expect to be more effecient with less people (25 total in the venue consisting of fire marshalls, one fire engine company and three medics)