BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Around 10 a.m. on Saturday, Kern County Fire and Bakersfield Fire Departments began fighting a fire that engulfed two warehouses north of Brundage Lane and east of Washington Street.
- According to Kern County Fire, the two warehouses were filled floor to ceiling with black, plastic irrigation hoses. The warehouses involved had Calcot Ltd. signage on them, according to the company's website, Calcot Ltd. handles cotton ginning, warehousing, merchandising, and cotton seed processing. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
- With smoke from the fire being visible for several miles, Kern County Fire Public Information Officer Jonathon Drucker tells 23ABC that crews from KCFD and Bakersfield Fire Department were focused on ensuring that the fire did not spread to the other warehouses nearby and that crews have good control on containment of the fire. However, due to the magnitude of the fire, crew will be on sight through the remainder of the evening and the fire will be visible to the public in the area for several hours.
- Drucker did note that because of the intense heat of the fire and favorable conditions, the community should see minimal smoke exposure.
- This story is still developing and new information could be added in the future.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter, at the site of a large two-warehouse fire in East Bakersfield north of Brundage Lane. In talking with Kern County Fire, they confirmed that the fire started at about 10 on Saturday morning.
“These are very large warehouses, at least 10,000 square feet by our estimation, each.”
A blanket of smoke could be seen for miles as a result of the fire. Kern County Fire Public Information Officer Jonathon Drucker says the main fuel for the fire, inside the Calcot Warehouses on Brundage Lane and Washington Street, is plastic irrigation tubing. According to the company’s website, Calcot Ltd. handles cotton ginning, warehousing, merchandising, and cotton seed processing.
Drucker did note that the public should see little impact from smoke inhalation in the area because of how much heat the fire is putting off, but to keep their wits about them in the area.
“Fortunately, this column has a ton of heat and energy behind it, so it's lifting up and it's getting up and out of the way of individuals that are – that are living in life down here on the ground. However, we would encourage people to make sure that if they're driving, they're driving safely and focused on the road, because this is a very imposing, significant black column.”
While the fire was contained to the two large warehouses, fire crews from both Kern County Fire and Bakersfield Fire departments were seen fighting the fire using a short handful of tactics to keep the fire concentrated to just the two buildings.
“We want to assure the general public in the area that they can go about their business and also that the fire is not spreading. So far, we've been able to keep the fire contained to the two buildings that's been our goal this entire time, and so we've been successful in that matter thus far.”
In talking with Drucker, he did say the cause of this fire is still unknown and he expects fire crews to be out here well into the afternoon on Saturday and potentially into the evening to make sure no flareups happen at this site. We’ll continue to update this story on-air and online as more information becomes available.
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