Bull Fire 12 percent contained, no more residences threatened Wednesday
| Wednesday, Jul 28 2010 01:26 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jul 28 2010 08:23 PM
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A line of Cal Fire engines lines the side of Circle Park in Kernville, waiting to be deployed Tuesday on the Bull Fire. The summer tourism in Kernville has slowed down a little due to road closures in the area because of the large wildfire.
U.S. Forest Service firefighter Anthony Estrada hoses down a tree that caught fire Tuesday evening while backburning on the Bull Fire along Sierra Way.
Dozens of firefighters wait for directions early Wednesday morning at the fire camp in Lake Isabella, as the third day of the Bull Fire approaches. The wildfire, which started Monday north of the small mountain community of Kernville, burned several structures in Riverkern.
Several helicopters working on the Bull Fire are parked at the Kern Valley Airport "heliport" Tuesday evening. The Bull Fire, north of Kernville, started Monday afternoon and continues to burn Wednesday.
Kern County helicopter #407 lands at Kern Valley Airport, Tuesday evening along with about a dozen others after battling the Bull Fire most of the day.
U.S. Forest Service firefighter Anthony Estrada, with hose, along with crew members work on a backburn operation that goes up this hill Tuesday evening north of Kernville on the Bull Fire. The slick mountain in the background, at top, is called the "Slabs," a favorite rock-climbing spot for tourists and locals.
One of the water-dropping helicopters gets ready to come in for a landing at Kern Valley Airport Tuesday evening at the heliport after making water drops on the Bull Fire.
Fire crews concentrate on a backburn effort Tuesday evening on the Bull Fire, which started on Monday afternoon and continues to burn.
A helicopter makes a water drop in extremely steep terrain on the Bull Fire north of Kernville. The large wildfire started on Monday and continues to burn. As of Wednesday, the acreage burned was right around 15,000 acres.
The little but powerful K-MAX helicopter gets ready to fill up in the Kern River Wednesday as another helicopter passes in the back as these two, along with many other helicopters, air tankers and hand crews battle the three day old Bull Fire north of Kernville.
A long line of fire crews who are mostly from the Porterville area gear up for Bull Fire mop up work along Sierra Way, north of Kernville, Wednesday morning. The wildfire has burned more than 15,000 acres according to a Kern County Fire Department PIO.
Firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino fire crew, do a backburn operation Tuesday evening along Sierra Way on the second day of the Bull Fire.
San Bernardino firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service work on a backburn operation Tuesday evening on the Bull Fire along Sierra Way. More than 15,000 acres have burned since the fire started Monday afternoon.
As fire crews drive through Kernville they are able to see a thank you sign placed by residents in the center of town in the middle of the road. The Bull Fire, which started Monday, continues to burn north of this small mountain community.
A Bureau of Land Management fire crew along, with several U.S. Forest Service firefighters, work together Tuesday evening after sunset on a large backburn operation north of Kernville along Sierra Way on the second day of the Bull Fire. The firefighters with the hose are keeping an eye on the backburn, watching for any embers that may cross the road.
A large sky crane #732 makes a nice water drop on the far northwest side of the Bull Fire on Wednesday north of Kernville. The wildfire started Monday afternoon in the Bull Run area.
A helicopter with headlights and a bucket underneath comes into Kern Valley Airport in Kernville Tuesday evening for a landing after making water drops on the Bull Fire, a wildfire that started Monday, north of Kernville.
U.S. Forest Service worker Anthony Estrada with the San Bernardino fire crew has a hot job lighting backburns Tuesday evening past sunset on the Bull Fire north of Kernville.
Fire crews working through Tuesday night successfully established a fire line on the southern flank of the 15,982-acre Bull Fire, which was about 12 percent contained as of Wednesday night, according to the Kern County Fire Department.
The fire is classified as “human caused, under investigation,” according to a California Interagency Incident Management Team news release. Authorities couldn’t be reached late Wednesday to elaborate.
The fire is burning in grass and brush on both sides of the Kern River, north of Kernville.
Crews worked overnight to clean up islands of unburned fuels between the Kern River and Mountain Highway 99.
But crews working the northern flank of the fire, to the west of the Kern River, were pulled back Tuesday due to “a significant increase in fire activity,” authorities said.
Eight residences and six outbuildings burned Monday, the first day of the fire. A force of 2,249 personnel are fighting it.
Two firefighters were injured. One suffered a scratch to the eye; the other was dehydrated, officials said.
Evacuation orders were lifted at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The American Red Cross had opened an emergency shelter for evacuees at the Lake Isabella Senior Center, but only one person checked in. The lone resident declined to be interviewed.
“He’s emotionally pretty upset and kind of in shock, as you can imagine,” said Red Cross volunteer David Hurley.
It’s not surprising that only one person showed up, he said.
“I wasn’t sure we’d get even that many,” Hurley said. “Most people are staying with friends or family. This community takes care of its own.”
There were no additional residences in immediate danger Wednesday, but two historic structures were threatened: Cannell Cabin, a ranger guard station built in 1905; and Baker Point Lookout, a structure that ironically was constructed in 1950 as a vantage point to watch for wildfires.
“The local staff is concerned about these buildings because they’re a part of us,” said Tim Kelly, an archeologist with the U.S. Forest Service.
The buildings are special to the community, too.
When staff arrived at Cannell Cabin to brace it for a possible firestorm, two cattlemen had beat them there and offered assistance. The men helped firefighters cover the cabin in a fire-resistant wrap and clear dry brush nearby.
Although there have been no human casualties thus far, officials are deeply concerned about wildlife.
The last known community of a near-extinct plant is located in the remote, mountainous region, and the loss of brush will take a toll on area animals, said Wendy Rannals, a wildlife biologist with the Sequoia National Forest Kern River Ranger District.
“Usually a mother will hide her young — lion cubs or deer fawns or what have you — in the brush while she gets food or drinks from the river, but now the habitat is all burned so they have no cover from predators,” she said. “And animals use their sense of smell to locate their young, but with all the smoke in the air their sense of smell is diminished, which increases the likelihood they’ll be separated.”
Deborah Dishington, 59, is a Kernville artist who helps pay the bills by cleaning houses.
She stopped into the Sequoia ranger station Wednesday to get information for clients who own vacation homes in the area.
“They’re calling me to find out if their homes are OK,” she said.
Dishington said the fire has been devastating.
“I don’t have any human children. All of these trails up here are like my babies,” she said.
“I’m so afraid that the regeneration will never be the same. More and more of these areas are burned away or being lost to development. I don’t know if it will be as beautiful again in my lifetime, and this area is one of the last unspoiled jewels left in California.”
Wednesday, crews constructed fire lines directly along the southern, southwestern and southeastern perimeter of the fire’s edge, supplemented by air support. Mop-up activities continued around structures in Kernville and River Kern to make sure there were no hot spots that could reignite a blaze.
The western edge of the Bull Fire will likely peter out on its own as it bumps into the aftermath of the 1990 Stormy Fire, which left little fuel behind, said Scott Williams, a fire management specialist with the U.S. Forest Service.
What is most worrisome is the northwest perimeter below Baker Point, because the last time it burned was 1942, Williams said.
Mountain Highway 99 is closed from Headquarters Campground to Brush Creek, but the Kern County Sheriff’s Department allowed residents of Riverkern and Camp Owens to return to their residences.
The fire is being managed under a unified command of the California Interagency Incident Management Team 4 and the Kern County Fire Department, with cooperation of the Bureau of Land Management.
Resources dispatched to the fire included 67 hand crews, 124 engines, three dozers, 16 water tenders and eight helicopters.
