West fire 44 percent contained Thursday
| Thursday, Jul 29 2010 08:41 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 29 2010 08:44 PM
The Kern Chapter of the American Red Cross said Thursday it was transitioning its shelters into service centers for the Bull Fire near Kernville and the West Fire near Tehachapi.
Service centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m as needed to provide shelter, food, comfort kits, guidance and other assistance, the chapter reported.
One is at the Lake Isabella Senior Center, 6409 Lake Isabella Blvd., and the other is at Old Jacobsen Junior High School, 126 Snyder St. People may call 661-324-6427 during business hours or 1-800-951-5600 after hours. Food, water, clean-up supplies, etc., is available for people affected by the West Fire.
Images
An inmate crew from Fire Suppression Camp 11 in Acton works to mop up the West Fire in Tehachapi on Thursday as a firefighting helicopter flies overhead. At this time the West Fire was 25 percent contained, but mostly inactive.
Firefighter Jim Eaves of the Ebbets Pass Fire District works to spray down a small fire in a tree while mopping up an area on the east side of the West Fire in Tehachapi on Thursday. A total of 1,045 firefighters have been sent from various districts to assist with the fire.
A crew of inmates from Acton, Calif., works to mop up the remains of the West Fire on Thursday. The fire was less active than the previous two days, although the risk of a flare-up remained.
Firefighters Jon Davies, Ryan Tysinger and Kyle Bradley, working out of the Glennville station of Kern County Fire Department, continue mop-up operations on the West Fire. Behind them lay the remains of a mobile home that was completely destroyed by the fire.
Bob Porter looks out from the porch of his Tehachapi home on Thursday. Porter's house was spared but he lost a two-story barn and its contents in the West Fire.
On Thursday a hunk of molten metal from a nearby pile of burnt electronics lays on the ground in an area hit by the West Fire.
For most of Thursday, if it weren't for all the fire trucks and helicopters around Tehachapi, one might not be aware of a devastating fire that began Tuesday on Old West Ranch.
There was very little smoke on the blackened area that has grown to 1,658 acres, CalFire reported. Firefighters hoped to cool enough hot spots that it didn't flare up in afternoon winds, spokesman Mike Mohler said.
He reported at 7 p.m. that containment increased from 25 to 44 percent and the estimate of damaged structures remained at 25 to 40.
Assessment crews were on the ground in the 150-home rugged country ranch making detailed and time-consuming reports on where and just what structures were harmed, spokesman John Buchanan said. The process make take days to complete.
Meanwhile, firefighters hoped to contain the fire by Friday. The evacuations of the ranch remained in effect, although a fair number of people returned to their homes.
Officially, the cause of the fire remains under investigation, but locals said a few men using a metal grinder to cut metal sent sparks flying onto dry grass and brush, setting off the fire. Fire officials have confirmed the fire started in that area.
A small army from the 1,205 firefighters called to battle the blaze worked especially hard Thursday to cool hot spots so the fire didn't flare up and spread to the wind farm just to the east of Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road.
Among them were 26 prison inmates and three supervisors, including foreman Brian Byrne of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who explained the tools and the mopping up process.
Standing on blackened ground whose heat emanated through boots, Byrne said the crews worked with chain saws, McClouds (rake and blade), Pulaskis (ax and blade), shovels, backpack water bags and spray nozzles, and water hoses from fire engines.
The idea is to look for smoke from wood or brush, cover it with water or dirt, cut off hot branches or trees to cool them down, spray water on flames or hot vegetation, and scrape out a fire line of dirt to prevent any flare up from spreading, he said.
It's hard work, but essential to controlling wildfires, he said. Inmates, through good behavior and having relatively low-level felony crimes, have to earn a spot on the fire crews, he said.
One inmate, Derrius Whitehead, said he was happy to be on the crew. "It's something we can take to the street with us," he said. "It's another way for us to get situated with society."
As they worked, helicopters took turns sucking up water from a tank that other trucks and crews kept filled with water.
The firefighting was very much appreciated by residents such as 79-year-old Bob Porter, who lost a 2-story barn in the firestorm Tuesday, but said Thursday on the front porch of his 2,700-square-foot brick house, "I'm amazed the house is still here."
He said he and his wife, Dorothy, waited too long to evacuate Tuesday and had to take a back road and a creek bed to get out from under thick smoke and wind "that made a roaring sound."
The firefighters, the bare ground he created around his house and his wife's prayers saved the house they've been in for 23 years, he said.
He said he'll replace his barn in which he had a small machine shop. It should take a couple of years, he said.
The experience was terrifying, he said. "It's just something you don't want to do twice."
