The Lake Isabella area, in Kern County, California is no stranger to both small and large wildfires. In 2014, the Shirley Fire burned 2,545 acres of land and caused over $12 million in damage.
The current Lake Isabella fire has far surpassed that fire though and has scorched 30,000 acres. This while also claiming two lives and burning 100 buildings. Around 2,000 people have been evacuated from the area, as of Friday, June 24, 2016.
Emergency personnel and volunteers are helping people in the affected communities. This is as firefighters, with about 800 out in the area, continue to fight the Erskine fire, trying to protect thousands of buildings. What aided the spread of the fire has been the past few years of drought, and the high temperatures and gusting winds that the area is currently experiencing. At one point, the fire scorched 11 miles of land in about 13 hours, leaving firefighters overwhelmed. Unfortunately, conditions are expected to worsen over the weekend.
Wildfire burns more than 30,000 acres, prompting state of emergency; 2 dead, 100 structures lost
Erskine Fire - Incident Information System
The current Lake Isabella fire has far surpassed that fire though and has scorched 30,000 acres. This while also claiming two lives and burning 100 buildings. Around 2,000 people have been evacuated from the area, as of Friday, June 24, 2016.
Emergency personnel and volunteers are helping people in the affected communities. This is as firefighters, with about 800 out in the area, continue to fight the Erskine fire, trying to protect thousands of buildings. What aided the spread of the fire has been the past few years of drought, and the high temperatures and gusting winds that the area is currently experiencing. At one point, the fire scorched 11 miles of land in about 13 hours, leaving firefighters overwhelmed. Unfortunately, conditions are expected to worsen over the weekend.
Wildfire burns more than 30,000 acres, prompting state of emergency; 2 dead, 100 structures lost
Erskine Fire - Incident Information System
Extremely volatile #ErskineFire burns 8000 acres, destroys 80 homes & threatens 1500 more 🔥 https://t.co/EkXuMDwoxg pic.twitter.com/qZI5n9vlUm— Marcus Yam (@yamphoto) June 24, 2016
More video of homes off Kelso Valley Road #ErskineFire pic.twitter.com/CweSK499bl— Kristin Price (@KPriceKGET) June 24, 2016
#ErskineFire photos by Michael Cuffe, used with permission. UPDATES: https://t.co/Yy9WD034h0 pic.twitter.com/YBzgzrwfRa— KBAK/KBFX TV (@bakersfieldnow) June 24, 2016
Morning's light shows how bad the devastation from #ErskineFire is. I'm on Goat Ranch Road- dozens of homes gone. pic.twitter.com/0czbyxQtuB— Trevor Hughes (@TrevorHughes) June 24, 2016
