Power Lines A Growing Concern As 3000-Acre Kern County Fire Burns Into The Night
FRAZIER PARK (CBSLA.com) — Firefighters say one of their main concerns are transmission lines that provide power to the Los Angeles area in the path of the 3,000-acre Frazier Park blaze burning into the night.
Kern County was joined by the Los Angeles County Fire Department Wednesday as a fast-moving brush fire forced evacuations at a Lebac high school and Hungry Valley State Park.
The Grand Fire in Frazier Park was at 10 percent containment as of 10:30 p.m., according to Kern County Fire officials.
Ventura County and the Bureau of Land Management were also on the scene Wednesday - part of a crew of 600 fighting the brush fire.
Students at Frazier Mountain Park High School were evacuated safely, officials said. Firefighters say it's not clear if the football field or track field there were damaged.
Several homes in the area have also been evacuated. No injuries or structural damage have been reported.
The fire is burning close to the northbound 5 Freeway at Frazier Mountain Park Road and toward the northern Los Angeles County area. Falcon Way is closed. The 5 Freeway is expected to remain open unless there is a change in winds, another main concern for officials.
Air tankers were deployed Wednesday afternoon, attempting to contain the blaze with fire retardant before it gets to the Los Padres National Forest. Helicopters were also overhead dropping water on the flames.
A bigger firefight is expected to extend through the evening as the flames work their way up the hillside in a heavily treed area. Winds are coming out of the north and west clocked as high as 25 mph.
They are expected to die down overnight before picking up again Thursday morning, potentially fueling the flames and creating dangerous conditions.
The area is not heavily populated. But some Frazier Park residents spoke with KCAL9's Andrea Fujii about their concerns as smoke billowed above their homes.
"There's always a chance," Allan Andrews said. "It's like, if it does come, what do you grab first?"
Dolores Baumgardar met the fire with similar resolve.
"It gets scary, but if you live in the mountains... you just have to deal with it," she said.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
