Bull Fire ravages mountains but no more houses north of Kernville
| Tuesday, Jul 27 2010 12:02 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Jul 27 2010 11:55 PM
The Kern County Department of Public Health offered advice to people in the Kernville area Tuesday on protecting themselves from wildfire smoke:
• Reduce time spent outdoors. This can usually provide some protection, especially in a tightly closed, air-conditioned house in which the air-conditioner can be set to re-circulate air instead of bringing in outdoor air. Staying inside with the doors and windows closed can usually reduce exposure.
• Limit vigorous outdoor physical activity to lower the dose of inhaled air pollutants.
• Reduce other sources of indoor air pollution as many emit large amounts of the same pollutants present in wildfire smoke. Examples include indoor sources such as burning cigarettes, gas, propane and wood-burning stoves and furnaces, and activities such as cooking, burning candles and incense, and vacuuming.
An interagency news release Tuesday morning reported the following:
• Road closures are in effect on Sierra Way from Kernville to Fairview.
• Burlando Road is closed, except for resident access.
• Cherry Hill Road and Horse Meadow campground will be closed with access to residents only. California Management advises people with reservations through Thursday will be relocated to a lake camping area and those with a Friday through Sunday reservation will either be relocated or canceled.
• A shelter is available at the Lake Isabella Senior Center, 6405 Lake Isabella Blvd.
• All private and commercial rafting on the upper Kern River is canceled until further notice for safety reasons with helicopters working out of the river.
• More information is available from a 24-hour helpline from the U.S. Forest Service: 760-376-3781 ext. 0, the Kern County Fire Department at 661-330-0133, or visit www.kerncountyfire.org
Images
One of several helicopters passes a home Tuesday, that burned in Riverkern on Monday evening as the Bull Fire roared through this small mountain community, north of Kernville burning several homes.
Kern County helicopter #407 makes a water drop on a hot spot, north of Kernville, Tuesday, on the Bull Fire.
Kern County Fire Department Safety Officer, Ernia Candelario Jr., secures an area of the fire in Riverkern in the front yards of several home and cars that burned in Monday's fire.
Fire equipment was heavy along Sierra Highway, along with firefighters on foot heading up to build fire lines on the Bull Fire, Tuesday, near Riverkern.
The giant skycrane flies under the bright noon sun, north of Kernville, Tuesday, while battling the Bull Fire making water drop after water drop on the fire line.
Bureau of Land Management Battalion Chief and PIO Debbbie Santiago helps out with coordination efforts on the Bull Fire in Riverkern on Tuesday.
Josh Acosta, fire captain with the U.S. Forest Service Fulton Hotshot crew keeps an eye on the Bull Fire, Tuesday, along Sierra Highway.
U.S. Forest Service hotshot crew walk past a Smokey Bear fire warning sign, north of Kernville, Tuesday, on the second day of the Bull Fire.
Josh Acosta with the Fulton Hotshots keeps an eye on a backburn near Riverkern on Tuesday, the second day of the large wildfire, north of Kernville, called the Bull Fire.
U.S. Forest Service firefighter Brant Machado, with the Fulton Hotshots, lights a backburn along Sierra Highway, near Riverkern, Tuesday morning on the Bull Fire.
An air tanker drops a load of fire retardant on a hot spot, Monday evening before sunset on the Bull Fire, which started Monday afternoon and continues to burn in several directions, north of Kernville.
Several homes burn in Riverkern, Monday evening caused by the large wildfire, labeled the Bull Fire. These residents lost their home and talk to firefighters and the media about their loss.
Karin Josif talks to Californian reporter, Steve Swenson, and couldn't believe her residence in Riverkern was spared from Monday's firestorm that roared through Riverkern.
Bull Fire
The second day of the Bull Fire north of Kernville ravaged the hillsides, but kindled no new damage to structures, officials said.
Still, the blaze that began Monday afternoon on the west side of the river, but jumped over to the east side where seven homes and a lodge building were destroyed, continued growning, Kern County Fire spokesman Sean Collins said. As of 6 p.m., the fire had grown to 15,000 acres.
It was only 5 percent contained by Tuesday. What appeared to be a two-unit building at the Sequoia Lodge in Riverkern burned, but the main wing of the lodge was unharmed.
With tinderbox conditions of dry vegetation, gusty winds and single-digit humidity, flames consumed steep mountainsides grass, rocks, shrubs and trees, sending spectacular plumes of smoke in the above the Kern River in Kern and Tulare counties.
But the good news is the blaze that consumed houses in a Riverkern neighborhood Monday was controlled Tuesday so that scores of houses on both sides of the river appeared to be safe from further damage, Collins said. Six outbuildings were also burned down, he said.
He noted the massive effort Monday afternoon was aided by a pre-fire, grant-funded firebreak on the west side of the river that was credited with saving all the homes there.
The firebreak was near Burma Road on the west side where the fire began, he said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it may have been human caused, he said.
People on the west side of the river were allowed to return to their homes Monday night, but those on the east side could only visit their homes under escorts that began about 10 a.m., he said.
A 12-mile stretch of Sierra Way from Kernville to Fairview Johnsondale was closed to traffic. All the campgrounds north of Riverkern were closed in that stretch, but those closer to Kernville were open.
Some backfires were set Monday night to act as a firebreak to keep the blaze away from the more populated Kernville area.
About 700 firefighters were on hand to fight the largest, most destructive wildfire of the season, Collins said.
Groups of firefighters could be seen in the Riverkern neighborhood making sure no hot spots generated flames that could torch other houses.
They were also at various points along Sierra Way acting as eyes to watch the hillside fires and a defense if the fires came close to the river.
What they saw was flames that climbed to the ridge tops and swooped down to trees and brush near the river on the west side.
A steady stream of helicopters, careful to avoid each other, sucked up water in hoses dipped into the Kern River or scooped the water out in buckets and then dumped it on leaping flames.
Larger helicopters obtained their water from Isabella Lake.
Collins said 14 helicopters and eight air tankers were assigned to the Bull Fire. Their main job is to slow the fire down so ground crews and bulldozers can carve out firebreaks to contain the blaze, he said.
Carl Sarubbi, branch director for the U.S. Forest Service, said on the road about five miles north of Kernville that this fire will take “a long time to put out, at least a week.”
He said the air attack and bulldozers work well with the ground crews, but the fire is in such steep terrain that the problem is getting crews to the perimeters.
Meanwhile, as Sarubbi talked, huge plumes of smoke that ranged from white to dark brown merged over the highway from the hills on the east and west side.
Smoke descended into the Isabella Lake area in the morning, but by afternoon, southern winds of up to 20 mph had pushed the smoke north of Kernville.
Fire trucks from all over California came Tuesday to fight the Bull Fire, whose attack is being coordinated by the Kern County Fire Department, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.
