Firefighters keep blaze from reaching Wofford Heights area homes
By THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
A quick and massive response by firefighters kept a series of fires near Wofford Heights Monday morning from reaching any nearby homes, Kern County fire officials said.
About 100 homes were initially threatened off Highway 155, but about 200 firefighters from several agencies prevented the blazes from damaging any structures, spokesman Sean Collins said late Monday afternoon.
Related Photos
Casey Christie/ The Californian An air tanker drops a load of fire retardant on the largest of 8 fires near Highway 155, between Wofford Heights and Lake Isabella Monday morning. Photo by Casey Christie/ The Californian
Kern County Firefighting helicopter #408 makes a water drop on one of several fires Monday, near the Main Dam, off Higwhay 155. The highway was closed for several hours while traffic was diverted around the lake as multiple agencies battled the blazes that were under investigation.
The fire began about 9:30 a.m. was expected to be fully contained by Monday evening and crews were going to work through the night to make sure any hot spots did not spread, he said. It was about 75 percent contained at 4:30 p.m. and had burned about 75 acres, he said.
As a precaution, about 650 homes in the Wofford Heights area were advised by telephone about the fire, but no evacuations were ordered, he said.
An air tanker and helicopter poured water and retardant on the fire which was also fought with bulldozers, hand crews and fire engines.
The cause of the fires, which were six separate small fires that grew together was unknown. Other small fires were reported off Saw Mill Road and near the Main Dam, but they were put out, he said.
The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management helped fight the fires. If anyone has any information on these fires please call our confidential fire information tip line on 1-877-347-3847, Collins said.
Most CommentedMost Popular
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
A settlement has been reached in radio talk show host Inga Barks' sexual harassment lawsuit against former co-host Scott Cox and American General Media.
Is Kern County, as has widely been reported, really the expulsion capital of California? That's the question posed Friday by state Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Shafter, to 50 or so Kern County educators, elementary and high school district administrators and community leaders.
Here's a bit of news that I didn't expect. The Kern County District Attorney's office has launched an investigation into whether the Board of Supervisors' practice of routinely placing the job performance of County Administrative Officer John Nilon on the "closed session" portion of its agenda is...
Since Karen Goh returned to Kern County from a publishing career in New York in 2004, she has helped foster a strong network of Christian leaders in government, politics, media, business and nonprofits.
Bakersfield’s Faast Pharmacy is going out of business and will be acquired by the big chain CVS, it was confirmed Monday.
Young's Marketplace, an independent grocery store that's a Bakersfield institution, will close at the end of the week.
Amtrak is suing a Kern County truck driver for more than half a million dollars in connection with a 2010 train crash in Shafter that injured about 20 people.