An estimated 48,000 visitors gathered at the Mojave Desert's Dumont Dunes over Halloween weekend for the unofficial kickoff to the region's off-highway vehicle season. San Bernardino County Fire crews were deployed to the site during the three-day event, when multiple incidents were reported.
San Bernardino County Fire deployed emergency-response personnel and resources to Dumont Dunes Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area during the Halloween weekend event. The deployment included a battalion chief, an engine company and two ambulances. The resources were deployed to provide emergency response to visitors across the remote dune system.
A Remote Stretch of Desert Turned Into a Pop-Up City
Dumont Dunes sits roughly 40 miles north of Baker, California, and encompasses 7,620 acres of public land in the Mojave Desert, according to a 2025 Tecopacabana article. The site draws thousands of off-highway vehicle enthusiasts every year, and Halloween weekend traditionally marks the kickoff to the OHV recreation season, with camping and riding as the main draws. The Dumont Dune Riders listed this year's Halloween Weekend as running October 30 through November 1, calling it one of the first big weekends of the season.
That seasonal pattern isn't new. A 2025 writeup from Tecopacabana described the official start of the Dumont season as traditionally beginning with Halloween weekend, when thousands of campers, riders and families converge on the dunes. That same outlet described the area as a 7,620-acre sand dune system managed by the Bureau of Land Management, located about 40 miles north of Baker on Highway 127.
Funding Fight Behind the Scenes
Staffing a remote desert recreation area at that scale doesn't come free, and San Bernardino County Fire has been working to lock down dedicated funding for it. The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District submitted a preliminary application to the State of California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division for the 2026 Grant Cycle, per a public notice posted by the district. The fire district said the primary intent of the grant is to fund the pre-positioning of firefighters and paramedics, including Advanced Life Support personnel, during peak holiday periods at Dumont Dunes.
The district's notice also states that grant funding would support additional operational, logistical and administrative costs needed to maintain safe and effective operations in remote, high-use areas like Dumont. The evidence reviewed does not establish whether this 2026 grant application is the same funding source behind the Halloween weekend deployment, and that connection remains unclear.
An estimated 48,000 visitors came to Dumont Dunes in 2026. San Bernardino County Fire deployed resources to support public safety across the sprawling dune system.
