By LAURA AUSTIN News Review Staff Writer– Just before 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 13, Kern County Department (KCFD) firefighters and Ridgecrest Police Department (RPD) officers were dispatched to 100 block of W Wilson Ave. in Ridgecrest to reports of a structure on fire with flames and smoke visible. Crews arrived to find a house fully engulfed in flames, quickly spreading to nearby structures and impacting live power lines.
A second alarm response was dispatched. Three KCFD engine companies, Stations 81, 84, and 83, and nine firefighters took on the blaze until reinforcements could arrive.
Triple-digit temperatures, a dense accumulation of trash and miscellaneous belongings in the yard, falling power lines, a condemned structure full of debris, and a collapsed roof challenged the firefighters as they worked. The blaze ignited nearby trees and brush around the property and surrounding properties, sending hot embers into the air and spreading to adjacent lots.
Heavy fire and gusting winds pushed the fire into a three-unit apartment building next to the central fire. The fire crews, who were already stretched thin, fought to preserve the structure. Though the firefighters saved the unit, the fire ultimately caused significant damage. The firefighters’ aggressive attack held off the fire’s advance and preserved the other two apartments.
Fleeing from her apartment, a resident runs to safety as Captain Greg Zwierzchowski of Kern County Fire Station 84 applies water to the fire that spread to her apartment complex.
RPD, accompanied by KCFD fire officials, evacuated multiple endangered residents from surrounding apartments as fire encroached on their homes. Emotion and great concern were prevalent as the evacuees, some with small children, gathered to watch helplessly as the massive fire threatened and burned the structures.
The widespread heavy smoke generated by the fire caused possible health hazards and poor visibility to motorists in already congested roadways in the area.
The firefighters, exhausted from the extreme outside temperatures, massive heat from the fire, and physical exhaustion, were rotated through rehab as soon as more help arrived. A temporary structure was erected to provide shade. Several chairs and ice chests of cool water, Gatorade, and electrolyte packets were available.
Liberty Ambulance, which was on standby, monitored the firefighters’ blood pressure, pulse, and temperature. They were given a few minutes to cool down their core body temperature before they were allowed to reengage the blaze.
The fire was knocked down, and crews remained on the scene, working meticulously through the burned materials to extinguish any hot spots.
The firefighters saved several homes and buildings.
Nine engines were assigned to the incident: eight from Kern County and one engine from California City.
Assisting agencies to the fire were Liberty Ambulance, California City Fire Department, Southern California Edison, and the Ridgecrest Police Department.
All impacted structures were thoroughly searched for victims, but none were found. As of press time, the cause of the blaze is still under investigation and undetermined. No injuries were reported.
