Dozens of homes burned, evacuations ordered as wildfire burns near Mojave Desert

Wildfire burns homes in rural Calif. community

TEHACHAPI, Calif. — About 30 to 40 homes have been lost to a wildfire about 10 miles southeast of the Mojave Desert town of Tehachapi, firefighters said Tuesday.

Kern County Fire Department Engineer Anthony Romero said the fire erupted at about 3 p.m. and quickly grew to more than 500 acres.

Officials said 150 structures were threatened and about 200 firefighters were on the scene, along with waterdropping aircraft.

The small hill community known as Old West Ranch was evacuated. The area is about 70 miles north of Los Angeles.

“The wind has been a big factor. It’s changing on us a lot,” Romero said. “Now it’s blowing from the southeast, going over a couple of ridges.”

There was zero containment, Romero said.

Mike Niccoli, who lives in Tehachapi, told the Bakersfield Californian he was concerned about people he knows in the area.

“I’ve got a lot of friends up in Old West Ranch, and we’ve been calling. We can’t get a hold of anybody,” he said.

Niccoli said the fire was spewing thick, black smoke and looked to be about 1½ miles wide. He said he was about two miles from the blaze and could see flames topping the tall pines in the area.

“We’ve heard a lot of propane tanks going off,” he told the Californian. “I’ve been up here for 10 years. I’ve seen fires but never as bad as this.”

A shelter for displaced residents was set up at the Old Jacobs Jr. High School in Tehachapi.

In northern Kern County, an eight-square-mile wildfire in Sequoia National Forest earlier destroyed six homes and forced the evacuation of a camp for juvenile offenders near Kernville.

The cause of the blaze, which began Monday, is under investigation.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for Kern County on Tuesday, freeing up state resources to battle the fires.

In far northeastern California, crews have 30 percent containment of lightning fires that have burned 250 acres of timber in Lassen County.