21-05-2025
Highway 178 reopens with fire at 50% containment
Highway 178 reopened Monday night after being closed for a day as crews worked to contain a brush fire in the Kern River Canyon.
The 895-acre Democrat Fire was 50% contained Tuesday afternoon, according to Sequoia National Forest spokesperson Amy Masi.
"Fire is still staffed 24 hours," Masi said in a text message. "Forward rate of spread has been stopped."
The Democrat Fire started at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday about a mile north of the Upper Richbar picnic area along Highway 178 and grew to 895 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire. Crews from the U.S. Forest Service and Kern County Fire Department had the fire 30% contained by Monday afternoon.
Highway 178 reopened at 10 p.m. Monday night, according to the California Highway Patrol's Bakersfield office, and was closed again for maintenance in the early morning Tuesday.
Kern County Fire Department spokesperson Jon Drucker previously told The Californian crews had initially responded to a call of a vehicle accident on Highway 178 but found no evidence of a crash.
The cause of the fire will be investigated by the U.S. Forest Service.
