Weather Assists Firefighters in Two Kern County Fires

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Cloudy conditions Wednesday helped firefighters from all over California that continue to fight two fires in Kern County. The larger of the two fires, the Bull Fire burning near Kernville, California, is believed to be human caused.

A task force of law enforcement officers from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Kern County Fire Department (KCFD) and the Kern County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) has been formed to investigate and find the cause of the Bull Fire, according to the KCFD.

Firefighters were able to extinguish more of the Bull fire, making significant enough progress that the fire is no longer under unified command. Currently, there are 2,399 personnel battling the 16,074 acre fire that is 12% contained, according to InciWeb.

Eight homes and six outbuildings have been destroyed by this fire.

Members of the Incident Management Team and Forest Service personnel will hold a community meeting Thursday night at 6 p.m. at the Lake Isabella Community Center to provide an update on the fire and answer community members questions.

The West Fire burning near Tehachapi, California has burned more than 1,400 acres and is now 25% contained. More than 1,000 fire personnel worked to slow the increased fire activity on the western flank Wednesday, according to the KCFD.

The number of structures lost has been downgraded from early estimates of 30 to 40 homes to 25 structures. It is unknown how many of those structures are homes.

More than 2,000 residents remain under evacuation orders with the fire still threatening 150 to 200 homes.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger proclaimed a state of emergency Wednesday bringing in more resources from across the state to battle the two fires.



Author:Barbara Brooks - Fire Department Network News