Over the weekend, strong winds and lightning strikes fueled the growth of wildfires in Southern California, causing them to spread across more than 30,000 acres by Monday. As a result, over 1,000 residents were forced to leave their homes, according to officials.
Kern County officials said that several fires that started in Kern and San Luis Obispo counties on Saturday were attributed to critical weather conditions and dry lightning over the weekend, according to a report from the New York Times.The National weather service’s Los Angeles office had cautioned that the ongoing heat wave in the Western United States would elevate the risk of fire, and that “any new fire will grow very quickly.”
John Drucker, the spokesperson for the Kern county fire department, said in an interview Monday, “The dry weather has been going on for a long time, and those winds can get erratic when you have thunder cells coming through. We have been on high alert this weekend, and it all kind of aligned.”
In Kern county, the Lost Hills fire expanded from approximately 500 acres over the weekend to more than 2,800 acres by Monday morning, with zero per cent containment, according to Cal Fire, the state’s department of forestry and fire protection.
Drucker said that firefighters working through the night have succeeded in halting its forward progress. “There was big potential for structures to be in the path of that fire and firefighters made a stand to keep structures from being harmed and high power lines threatened,” he said.
The Rancho fire, which began Saturday in Tejon Ranch, a renowned 270,000-acre private property in Kern County, was 50% contained by Monday after burning through about 9,950 acres, officials reported.
The Kern county fire department said that the blaze forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 people from the nearby Stallion Springs and Bear Valley Springs communities.
On Monday, the evacuation order for Stallion Springs, which accounted for most of the evacuees, was reduced to a warning, allowing people to return home but advising them to remain vigilant due to the ongoing risk. According to Drucker, the Bear Valley community remained under an evacuation order.
The White fire, which started just before noon Saturday near the community of Twin Lakes, had burned more than 5,000 acres and was 17% contained Monday morning, according to Cal Fire. Drucker said that an evacuation order was issued for Twin Lakes, affecting 30 people there.
Drucker explained, “For the last couple of days we have had thunder cells and dry lightning, with hundreds of down strikes in the county, and each one has the potential to start vegetation fire. It is burning through a wilderness area.”
In neighboring San Luis Obispo county, the Hurricane fire had burned about 12,700 acres by Monday and was about 75% contained, according to Cal Fire.
Kern County officials said that several fires that started in Kern and San Luis Obispo counties on Saturday were attributed to critical weather conditions and dry lightning over the weekend, according to a report from the New York Times.The National weather service’s Los Angeles office had cautioned that the ongoing heat wave in the Western United States would elevate the risk of fire, and that “any new fire will grow very quickly.”
John Drucker, the spokesperson for the Kern county fire department, said in an interview Monday, “The dry weather has been going on for a long time, and those winds can get erratic when you have thunder cells coming through. We have been on high alert this weekend, and it all kind of aligned.”
In Kern county, the Lost Hills fire expanded from approximately 500 acres over the weekend to more than 2,800 acres by Monday morning, with zero per cent containment, according to Cal Fire, the state’s department of forestry and fire protection.
Drucker said that firefighters working through the night have succeeded in halting its forward progress. “There was big potential for structures to be in the path of that fire and firefighters made a stand to keep structures from being harmed and high power lines threatened,” he said.
The Rancho fire, which began Saturday in Tejon Ranch, a renowned 270,000-acre private property in Kern County, was 50% contained by Monday after burning through about 9,950 acres, officials reported.
The Kern county fire department said that the blaze forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 people from the nearby Stallion Springs and Bear Valley Springs communities.
On Monday, the evacuation order for Stallion Springs, which accounted for most of the evacuees, was reduced to a warning, allowing people to return home but advising them to remain vigilant due to the ongoing risk. According to Drucker, the Bear Valley community remained under an evacuation order.
The White fire, which started just before noon Saturday near the community of Twin Lakes, had burned more than 5,000 acres and was 17% contained Monday morning, according to Cal Fire. Drucker said that an evacuation order was issued for Twin Lakes, affecting 30 people there.
Drucker explained, “For the last couple of days we have had thunder cells and dry lightning, with hundreds of down strikes in the county, and each one has the potential to start vegetation fire. It is burning through a wilderness area.”
In neighboring San Luis Obispo county, the Hurricane fire had burned about 12,700 acres by Monday and was about 75% contained, according to Cal Fire.