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Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Red Flag Warning: Is Kern County ready for the next major, destructive wildfire?
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It's only May, and Kern County is already seeing near-triple digit weather. The scorching heat and dry conditions, all-too-familiar indications our annual fire season is creeping upon us. In fact, on May 22, Kern County has its first Fire Weather Watch of the season. These red orange infernos are a matter of life or death, as we saw with the Palisades and Eaton fires. Could the tragedy we saw in Los Angeles happen here, in our own backyard? We spoke with both the Kern County and Bakersfield fire departments, as well as city and county leaders. Why did fire hydrants go 'dry' for crews fighting an LA fire? The short answer is, yes, fires of the same extent as Eaton and Palisades could happen in Kern County too. Some privately mentioned concerns about personnel, equipment, funding and the overall bandwidth to combat a potential fire of such magnitude. 'One of the things we have to remember about the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire is, it really was a perfect storm,' said Bakersfield Fire Department Interim Chief Kevin Albertson. 'So, you have firefighters addressing the front of the fire when fire is already spreading a half to three-quarters or a mile past them. [That] makes it a very difficult fire to fight, especially when you don't have aircraft able to fly in situations like that and be able to do water drops or retardant drops and then provide recon for you,' he continued. The chiefs of the Kern County and Bakersfield fire departments agree while the conditions of the L.A. wildfires were abnormal Kern County and Bakersfield too are fire prone. What is a 'red flag warning'? History proves it. Take the Borel Fire, the largest wildfire in Kern County history. Over 53 days in the summer of 2024, Borel burned over 59,000 acres. 'Borel is burning exactly how we expect it to burn in this area, with this amount of wind behind it, in red flag conditions,' KCFD's Capt. Andrew Freeborn told 17 News last July. Another example — the 2016 Erskine Fire — Kern County's third largest fire — was fueled by extreme winds, dry brush and dead trees from a historic five-year drought. 'If you look at the Erskine Fire, that's how that fire started. We had unreasonable winds that day, the fire laid over, and it took a run,' explained Kern County Fire Department's Chief Aaron Duncan. Our second largest fire occurred in 1942 and burned in the same areas as Erskine. Recent concerns for residents stemmed from the proximity of Los Angeles and the all-too-familiar brush fires signaling the start of our own fire season. 'As a Bakersfield community, as a Kern County community, we felt called upon, each of us did. And that's kind of what I was observing around with my own constituents,' said Bakersfield Vice Mayor Manpreet Kaur. What are California's Santa Ana winds? 'It is our duty to make sure our city is also prepared, that we have an assessment of what our fire department needs are currently, and how we begin planning.' Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh added, 'The experts certainly say a fire is possible. But the important thing is for us to be prepared.' That's why Vice Mayor Kaur proposed the city's first master fire plan. 'The intention is that we look into the future, far into the future — 10 plus years usually is what master plans do — and we really assess what our needs are today, and how we begin building that into our budgets at the city in the coming months and years,' Kaur said of her proposal. But the plan is nowhere near done — Kaur said the city is still taking bids from firms to see who will draft the plan. Jenny Huh: 'Is this the best use of City time and resources when a fire like that can happen at any given moment, really?' Manpreet Kaur: 'Well, I trust that our Bakersfield Fire Department is prepared and has the training. But at the same time, like any other department, there are needs. And we have master plan for our parks department; we have master plan even within water. It is upon us also to plan and master plan for the rest of our departments.' She added, 'I feel like an area of growth for us is making sure we can plan ahead. And that's with every single department.' Mayor Goh agreed: 'This is our effort to continue to improve.' And so, began the conversation — how prepared are our city and county fire departments for a major wildfire? Bakersfield FD receives 3 new engines Both have emergency operation plans based off the city and county's hazard mitigation plans and risk assessments that we understand our town's distinct fire challenges. Like wildland-urban interface areas — areas where man-made structures intersect with open grassland and vegetation. Dry conditions and high winds add to already-wildfire-prone areas. 'The wildland-urban interface, or what we call WUI, that's been here in Kern County for a long time,' said Chief Aaron Duncan. If you look at Frazier Park, you look at Golden Hills, Bear Valley, I mean, that is an all-urban mix.' 'So, we're talking about hills and houses mixed together. That's kind of what we specialize in. That's why we have such a robust wildland division,' Duncan said. The fire chiefs said there's more urban sprawl, and with more outlying homes will come greater restrictions. 'We need defensible space,' Chief Duncan said. 'You need to have your own water tank on your property. We want to make sure that you have a zero-zone concept. You want a fire wise community. Those are all things that we push through. Community education so that, you know, these homes have, stand a chance against these big, large conflagration fires.' A 'zero zone' is essentially an ember-resistant zone — a defensible space, meaning the buffer between a structure and the surrounding area. Meantime, the state already is applying lessons learned from the L.A. fires. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection — Cal Fire — released new fire hazard severity maps — assessing fire likelihood, fire behavior, wildfire history, type of vegetation and flammability, weather hazard and more. More land in California is seeing an increase in fire danger, and Kern County is not exempt. There are three hazard levels: moderate, high and very high. The 'Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones' are scattered throughout the county, with the area north of the Tehachapi airport being one of them. The western parts of the county have a mix of 'High' and 'Moderate' hazard ratings. A significant chunk of southeast Kern County — including the Antelope Valley, Rosamond, California City and Boron areas — are rated 'Moderate.' How could the smoke from the L.A. wildfires, Santa Anas impact long-term health? The foothills of east Bakersfield also are rated 'Moderate,' but that hazard spikes up to 'High' near the Hart Park area. And just to the east of Rio Bravo Country Club is a 'Very High' severity zone. The Oil City and Maltha area, the area east of Oildale and north of the Panorama Bluffs is also a decent chunk of 'High' severity zones. 'We established firebreaks early on in the season around our vulnerable communities and hopefully will help with that,' said BFD Interim Chief Albertson. 'Both departments also up staff when we have red flag events. And the red flag events are indications of fire –a high fire hazard. And then I think a big part of it is education and letting those people who live in those communities be like, let them know, hey, we need to have good clearance.' Albertson continued, 'It's about creating a fire wise community, about having defensible space, about having responsible occupants in those structures to make sure that they are the most protected as they can. So, when firefighters get to those neighborhoods and get to those houses, they have an opportunity to make a good save.' When it comes to the ability of our first responders to combat fires — small or large — there are recurring resident concerns. A big one is response time. 'For the city of Bakersfield, we actually have in our General Plan for the city, a response time and that's what we base our station locations off of,' explained Chief Albertson. 'So, when we take a look at a new station, we'll look at or incorporate our GIS team to say, hey, where is the average response time out from the station? Where do we need a new station? Where do we need additional resources and where would they be most effective?' And there are plans to add to the City's 14 fire stations, especially in fast-growing neighborhoods, like in the southwest. Never miss a story: Make your homepage 'We are actually in the process of doing a survey with the International Association of Firefighters, and that's what we're taking a look at,' noted Albertson. 'We're taking a look at where resources would best be positioned throughout the city, making sure that we do have the proper coverage, making sure that if there is going to be some growth, where that growth should be and what that growth should be.' But at the county level, there's a lot more land to cover — including remote areas. Jenny Huh: 'So, for residents in those areas who do worry that response time does get delayed or longer, what do you say about the operations and the strategies that your department implements?' Chief Aaron Duncan: 'Well, we always have a robust response plan no matter what. And like speaking to Boron specifically — and I've worked in that station — is in the heart of the city. So, we can get anywhere within five minutes, you know, you'll get that first engine on scene and then your help is coming from Cal City, Mojave.' Duncan added, 'So, you have to be strategic and put the stations where the communities are, where the people are. But also, you can't leave giant gaps in the county, which will extend response time. So, we have to have stations in certain areas that may not be so populated, but we also can't have long response times. So, they're strategically placed geographically, everywhere throughout the county.' Smoke from climate-fueled wildfires contributed to thousands of deaths over 15 years: Study Kern County Fire Department Chief Aaron Duncan is the County's Director of Emergency Services and local Cal Fire Chief. He's the top acting official in any emergency. 'It's not just the fires. It's the earthquakes, it's the floods, it's the all-risk component that we have throughout the county,' Duncan said. Chief Duncan said the allocation of equipment to KCFD's 47 fire stations depends on need. 'What's the risk to that community? So, for example, out in Taft, we have a ladder truck and that was purchased long time ago because we know we have a lot of oil fields, high towers out there that that we need that equipment for. So, you know your places strategically to where your specific risks are. Same thing with downtown, east Bakersfield. We have a lot more robust, you know, more common fire stations in that area because that's where heavier population is.' Some of KCFD's equipment include: 58 engines 6 ladder trucks 5 crew buggies 6 bulldozers 4 water tenders 2 helicopters Whereas BFD equipment includes: 14 fire engines 3 ladder trucks 3 type-3 engines — smaller fire engines with 4×4 capabilities 3 type-6 engines — used for wildland fires due to off-road and water pumping capabilities In firefighting, there are federal, state and local jurisdictions. For Kern County and Bakersfield, the fire departments collaborate via a Joint Powers Agreement. 'There's never confusion on where the fire is because the fire is where it is. And then just the closest resources go,' said Albertson. 'The dispatchers are actually both city and county dispatchers. It's the same facility. We'll actually have city dispatchers dispatching county equipment and county dispatchers dispatching city equipment. So, they're very familiar. There is never, ever any confusion on that.' Albertson said, 'Rarely do we have a large incident, in fact, hardly ever do we have a large incident here in the metro area where both departments aren't on it. We work together on a daily basis. And when I when I say daily, I mean multiple times a day.' Duncan nodded in agreement: 'We want the closest fire equipment to go to the call … It's all about getting fire service on scene as fast as we possibly can.' Sometimes, it's all agencies on deck. 'When you're talking about a Borel, when you're talking about an Erskine, when you're talking about, hundreds of homes being burned up, that's not a one-department show. You need help,' Chief Duncan underscored. 'And that's what's great about the fire service. It's all hands-on deck. So, if you look at Borel, we have assistance from Ventura County, L.A. County, L.A. City, every fire agency in the state was coming down to help us.' Kern County is part of the state Office of Emergency Services' Inland operation area — Mutual Aid Region V, alongside Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties. 'We have op areas, we have the whole state cut into op areas,' Chief Duncan detailed. 'So, all we have to do is reach out. I need this many strike teams from the north part of the county. I need this many strike teams from Southern California, and they just start sending. We give aid, just like we did to L.A. and they give aid back.' He further noted, 'And then we can reach out and tap our neighbors, which would be Southern California, the coastal areas. We have master mutual aid agreements with most departments. We can reach out to anybody.' Water was yet another pressing issue as first responders tackled the Palisades and Eaton fires. 17 News asked the fire chiefs if we could also see issues with water availability. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'Yes, our fire hydrants do have water,' Chief Albertson stated. 'And not only that, but both of our departments work with Cal Water here in the metro area to make sure that pressures are appropriate in those areas. When we get large fires, one of the things we do is we contact Cal Water and say, hey, we may need to boost the pressure, and they'll boost the pressure for us. That's something they can do within minutes of being contacted when we're talking water systems.' But for a massive fire? 'I will say there's not a water system out there that is designed to have 100 fire engines hooked up to it and be able to flow 1500 gallons a minute out of every single one,' Albertson said. Though, he emphasized, 'our water system is robust. There is water in the system, and we are very familiar with using it and how to supplement those pressures when needed.' At the county level, there aren't hydrants in each corner. That's something first responders need to keep in mind. 'I don't think it causes a delay because we plan for that,' Chief Duncan said with confidence. 'So, we have a station out in, let's say, Golden Hills, right? Maybe they may not have the most robust water system, but the crews that work in that area, they know that area. They know where their closest water source is. We train every day on how to get water.' He further commented, 'So, that means I'm drafting water out of the pool in your backyard. If I'm taking water out of a canal, if I'm doing a tanker shuttle with three different engines, they're prepped for that area. There's not one piece of dirt in this county that they haven't looked at and said, okay, we're going to need to order water tenders for this area.' Budget, yet another point of contention between former Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley and city officials. For the Bakersfield Fire Department, its budget has increased steadily over the past few years — from $41 million in 2019 to about $64 million last fiscal year. Vice Mayor Kaur said this is yet another area that can benefit from a master fire plan. 'It will indicate what our needs are,' she said. 'When we budget, then, we have different funding sources. One example is PSVS, and that's our Measure N money. That has been able to take us further into meeting needs that the City wasn't able to meet before Measure N existed.' Measure N is the City of Bakersfield's voter-approved one-cent sales tax, which passed in 2018. On that, BFD Interim Chief Albertson added, 'The public safety vital services measure revolves around sales tax and then the city, the general fund revolves around sales tax, property taxes and, of course, grants and things like that that help provide some additional funds for us to be where we are right now.' Kaur and Mayor Goh said where the priority is, City funding will go. 'Other councilmembers also echoed the sentiment that this was a need and felt [a master fire plan] was urgent as well. So that really helps, and it sends a signal to city management that other constituents and other councilmembers agree this should be prioritized.' Borel Fire now the largest fire in Kern history: Kern County FD For the Kern County Fire Department, its budget ranged from about $115 million to $180 million for the past decade or so. Since the passing of Measure K — the county's voter-approved one-cent sales tax in 2022 — KCFD's budget exceeded the $200 million mark. 'Currently our budget is $220 million,' began KCFD Chief Duncan. 'I'd say three years ago we were $180 million. So, we are growing, and we've added through Measure K and through our property tax growth. It's been phenomenal for Kern County. We see about $20 million out of Measure K every year. It's allowed us to put our medical units on the in the field. This allows for our squads in the field to start increase revenues that we're getting from Cal Fire and other agencies. That's allowed us to make our wildland program more robust.' Meantime, BFD, KCFD and the city of Bakersfield's efforts toward a master fire plan continue. The public will be asked to weigh in on the coming drafts. 'I think if you ask any fire chief or any leader, if could they use more personnel? Certainly, yeah, but we have personnel to address any emergency we have here in the metro area,' Albertson stated. 'If we were overconfident, we wouldn't train as much as we did,' he remarked. 'In my mind and in our firefighters' minds, we're humble public servants.' Residents can stay alert by signing up for ReadyKern, the county-wide emergency notification system. 'We be aware, that we be alert and that we be notified … If we're told to evacuate, it's important for us to do so that we don't have to have our firefighters rescuing us from the emergency because we haven't done what we need to be doing,' Mayor Goh said of residents' individual responsibilities. It's hot. It's dry. It's our fire season. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Highway 178 remains closed into Day 2 of Democrat Fire burning through Kern River Canyon
BAKERSFIELD, CA. (KGET) — Cars were lined up early Monday morning, stuck in Bakersfield trying to get to Lake Isabella. Asension Badillo waited an hour hoping to get to Lake Isabella, but ended up missing a day of work and turned around to Bakersfield. Larry Bly has lived in Lake Isabella almost 30 years, and sees fire closures often. 'Uhh, it happens, you know, we're in fire season right now so…normally it's when somebody wrecks, goes over the edge,' said Bly. Highway 178 remained closed well into day two of the Democrat Fire. The blaze has been going since 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Father of California bombing suspect says son burned down their house The start of the fire is around 10 miles in westbound from the base of the Kern River Canyon. The cause is still under investigation. 'As far as we know there've been no injuries, there are no fatalities,' said Amy Masi, Public Information Officer with the US Forest Service. 'Right now we don't have any significant structures threatened.' Two months from the anniversary of the Borel Fire, many fear this could turn into a disaster of that magnitude. The Forest Service says there's not much in common between the fires. 'We have people working in the air and on the ground and it kicks lose rocks,' said Masi. 'Same as if we had a flood, we have all kinds of hazards on the hillside, we don't know what those are going to be until we're done with the fire fight.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
KGET wins 7 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — KGET has won seven Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, including one for Overall Excellence, the Radio Television Digital News Association announced Tuesday. 17 News was recognized by RTDNA winning awards in the categories of Breaking News Coverage; Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Excellence in Writing; Feature Reporting; Newscast; Sports Reporting; and Overall Excellence. KGET nominated for 9 Emmy Awards 17 News won the award for Breaking News Coverage for coverage of Zack Scrivner and charges filed against him on Feb. 14 in connection to a child abuse investigation. The organization recognized KGET for its 17 News at Sunrise broadcast from the Borel Fire. 'Explant: Breast Implant Illness' — a report examining the stories of women who reported illness and symptoms that may have been related to breast implants — was awarded for Feature Reporting. The story of the one-appearance major leaguer Herb 'Buckshot' May, won Regional Murrow Awards for Excellence in Writing and Sports Reporting. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now A profile of former Kern County lawmaker Roy Ashburn won the award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. RTDNA has honored broadcast and digital journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Award since 1971. The award is one of the most prestigious in journalism and honors the winning outlet's entire newsroom and not individual journalists. KGET was recognized in 2020 and 2022 with National Edward R. Murrow Awards. KGET has also been nominated for nine 2025 Emmy Awards. VIDEO ABOVE: 100 years after Herb 'Buckshot' May got a shot at pitching in the big leagues Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
KGET nominated for 9 Emmy Awards
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — KGET has been nominated for nine Emmy Awards for news programming and special coverage including multiple nominations for reporting on the Borel Fire and a nomination for Overall Excellence. The Pacific Southwest chapter of the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences announced nominations for its 2025 awards ceremony on Friday. Never miss a story: Make your homepage KGET earned a nomination for Overall Excellence which includes news coverage, promotional announcements and community involvement. Nominations include four related to coverage of the Borel Fire that tore through mountain communities east of Bakersfield in 2024. KGET was nominated for three awards in the newscast category and one in the news special category. 17 News at Sunrise anchor and reporter Maddie Janssen was nominated for two special reports — Digital Addition and Explant: Breast Implant Illness. Digital Addiction was Janssen's report on the pervasiveness of screen time among young children and steps parents can take to break the habit. Explant: Breast Implant Illness examined the stories of women who reported illness and symptoms that may have been related to breast implants. KGET wins 4 Regional Murrow Awards Reporter Robert Price was nominated for three Emmys. One for the story of Herb 'Buckshot' May — a Kern County native who made his only Major League appearance over 100 years ago. A second nomination was awarded for Price's story about Bakersfield's version of hot dogs sold by street vendors. Price earned a nomination for a news special on the Borel Fire. Winners will be announced in June. Full list of nominees: Newscast – Smaller markets 17 News at 5: The Borel Fire – Naythan Bryant 17 News at 5: The Borel Fire – Heather Allen, Jesse Moreno 17 News at Sunrise: Live from the Borel Fire – Alex Fisher, Juan Corona News special The Borel Fire – Erica Torres, Robert Price, Juan Corona, Steve Womack Education/Schools News Digital Addiction – Maddie Janssen, Juan Corona, Jesse Moreno, Steve Womack Historical/Cultural News Buckshot May: Baseball's Single Shot – Robert Price, Steve Womack Lifestyle News Danger Dogs – Robert Price, Steve Womack Health/Medical News Explant: Breast Implant Illness – Maddie Janssen, Juan Corona, Jesse Moreno, Steve Womack VIDEO ABOVE: Maddie Janssen's special, Digital Addiction Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'This will be led by the community': Local groups look to help Borel Fire victims
Mattresses, food, financial support, a disabled access ramp for a home, a new house — those are just some of the diverse needs of families impacted by the Borel Fire that local groups are left to figure out how to provide. Meeting at the Kern County Emergency Operations Center on Panorama Drive, several local government and nonprofit groups came together Thursday to discuss how to move forward with guiding recovery for victims of last summer's devastating inferno. "Their lives have been changed by the fire," Kern County Emergency Services manager Georgiana Armstrong said. "Now it's a matter of can they get some help to get back on their feet to restart their lives?" It was the first meeting of local organizations since the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced it would not issue a disaster declaration for the Borel Fire. The Borel Fire started off Highway 178 in the Kern River Canyon last July and quickly grew to be the county's largest fire in history at 60,000 acres. Yet despite the size of Borel, the fire didn't affect enough people to meet FEMA's threshold for a major disaster declaration, which means it'll fall to local groups to help residents recover. The agency announced last month it had denied the state's appeal for a declaration. Gathered for Thursday's meeting were representatives of the American Red Cross; United Way of Eastern Central California; Catholic Charities of Bakersfield; Kern County and the California Office of Emergency Services, or CalOES; and others. The groups and government representatives came together with the goal of coordinating and combining their resources to provide some kind of relief. "This will not be a government-led process," Armstrong said. "Kern County is involved only in this part for the coordination, to support the process, but this will be led by the community, it will be led by non-government entities." Several groups have already been working with impacted families to provide what resources they can, but non-government groups were holding off on any potential rebuilding efforts until FEMA made its determination. Now with the FEMA question answered, the groups are coming together to identify what kind of help they can provide, and who they can provide it to. Catholic Charities of Bakersfield has been working with 30 families since the outbreak of the fire, according to Genesis Gonzalez, the group's disaster case manager. The families have varying needs, Gonzalez said. Some only experienced minor damage to their homes, while others lost everything. "Seventeen of those 30 families have challenging cases," Gonzalez said. "A lot of them have taken out loans, a lot of them don't have vehicles, and we do have some renters that lost the home that they were in." Of the families she's been working with, Gonzalez said, five families total decided to move out of the area completely and another 10 families are still deciding whether to rebuild or move away. Many of them had no insurance. "The majority of them are living with their relatives, with friends," Gonzalez said. "We have one family that purchased a mobile home, which is in really bad condition." The various groups present at Thursday's meeting brought different issues to the table; the mission now is to coordinate their respective resources. "Once we get all the players to the table, we will probably develop a very small group, maybe just a few people, that would have more specific information to make some comparisons," said Charlene Sargent, chairwoman of Kern County Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, or VOAD. "So that if we do have some organizations that are willing to help with repairs or rebuilding, that we can prioritize and help them identify who they need to help the most," she said. Another meeting of the group is scheduled for early June and in the meantime, groups were asked to tap into their own networks to try to bring additional partners to the table, particularly those that could provide financial support. The groups would also work to form a committee to help share specific information about the families being helped, and which needs were the greatest. Participants also discussed holding a public outreach campaign in the coming months, particularly with the one-year anniversary of the fire approaching in July, with specific needs identified for impacted families. "Unfortunately, we can't commit to making all of these families whole again, but we can certainly try to do whatever we can," Sargent said.
