CA-KRN/BLM-SAND #Wildfire 1400 acres, 50% No structures currently threatened.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

CA-KRN/BLM-SAND #Wildfire 1400 acres, 50% No structures currently threatened.

Updates: Unified command Kern County, Highway 58 near Tehachapi, Highway 58 reopened to through traffic.
Fire was started by boat trailer that lost a wheel, power poles burned that crossed over the highway Full containment is expected today, full control expected Friday.
No structures currently threatened. The fire has destroyed one bridge, one uninhabited structure, and twenty-one power poles.

Basic Information
Incident Name: Sand Fire - CA-KRN-22306
Incident Time: 01:00:00 PM
Incident Date: 07-17-2012
Incident Location: Tehachapi
Incident Type: Wildland Fire
Resources Used: Air Tankers, Helicopters, Dozers, Type 1, 2, 3, & 4 Engines, Hand Crews, & Overhead
Number of Personnel: 512
Assisting Agencies: BLM, Cal Fire, Cal City Fire, L.A. County Fire, U.S.F.S., KSCO, CHP, So Cal Edison
Cause: Accidental
Official Narrative: Tehachapi, CA: At approximately 1:00 PM on July 17th 2012, the Kern County Fire Department received a call for a vegetation fire near Sand Canyon Road and Highway 58.

On arrival, firefighters were faced with a fast moving fire burning in light grass and brush along west bound Highway 58, one mile east of Sand Canyon Road.

Additional firefighting resources were requested from the Bureau of Land Management, Cal Fire, California City Fire, Los Angeles County Fire, and the U.S. Forest Service to help battle the blaze.

The Sand Fire has burned approximately 1400 acres and is 50% contained.

The fire had potential to grow to between six and eight thousand acres however with additional air resources firefighters have been able to halt the forward progression of the fire.

Forty structures were originally threatened in the community of Sand Canyon, but with the assistance of six air tankers, five helicopters, six dozers and over five hundred and twelve firefighters the community was saved.

The fire has destroyed one bridge, one uninhabited structure, and twenty-one power poles.

A local interagency type three incident management team has been implemented to manage the fire by using local agreements in order to reduce fire suppression costs.

With favorable conditions, the fire is estimated to have full containment by Wednesday and full control by Friday.

The cause of the fire was accidental in nature and was attributed to a wheel coming loose from a boat trailer being towed along Highway 58.

There have been no reported injuries to firefighters or civilians.

Assistance is being received from the Kern County Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol, and Southern California Edison.

California Fire News 2012

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012