mike seidel live in central park for us tonight. mike, thanks. >>> as we swing out west tonight, extreme heat is adding to the fuel for a large and growing wildfire in southern california. outside palm springs, thousands of firefighters are now fighting this one in the heat. nbc's miguel almaguer is there for us tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. that billowing smoke behind me is a clear indication that this blaze is on the move. you may be able to hear those overhead choppers that are dropping water on this blaze. they are throwing every resource possible at it. while most nearby communities are safe for now, this fire remains a significant threat. this is as close as we can get to southern california's so-called mountain fire, exploding across 22 square miles of mostly wild land, at least half a dozen homes destroyed by the fast-moving inferno. >> everything i worked for all my life is probably up in flames. >> reporter: with more than 2,000 firefighters on the ground, this is the nation's top priority