On July 30, 2020 the Roadrunner' Retreat, an iconic former cafe on old Route 66 near Chambless, California was burned in a fire.
County Fire Battalion Chief Donnie Viloria said workers who had just finished their shift in Cadiz noticed the fire at the Roadrunner's Retreat, but because they didn’t have cell phone reception, they had to go somewhere else to report the fire. Viloria said the Roadrunner's Retreat is in such a remote area on old Route 66 that the fire had been burning for hours before anyone noticed and it took firefighters more than an hour to reach the fire. He added that while the diner building is still standing, all the contents inside were destroyed. The adjacent Roadrunner gas station was not affected by the fire. The owner of the Roadrunner Retreat was notified of the fire by fans of a Route 66 social media page. The cause of the fire is suspicious in nature.