Mike Devich

Managing editor

It was what Kern Valley residents fear most - a fire that breaks out in a populated area on a very windy day. When it was all over, two buildings had burned to the ground, but no one was injured and no lives were lost. The fire started at 1:45 p.m. Friday in Tillie Creek Campground in Wofford Heights. Margie Clack, public information officer for the U.S. Forest Service, said Monday, "The fire was man-caused. It still remains under investigation."

Witnesses reported the fire may have been started by children, but that information was not confirmed by fire officials as of press time Tuesday.

The fire broke out near a doublewide mobile home about 50 yards off a paved road that runs through the campground. With the warm, windy conditions, it spread rapidly.

Neighbor Beau Tuttle smelled the smoke and found the grass on fire close to the mobile home next door. Tuttle ran to the mobile home, according to the Kern County Fire Department, and evacuated an elderly relative from the mobile.

Fire crews responded from Kern County Fire Department Station 76 in Kernville, Station 72 in Southlake and from the Bureau of Land Management. U.S. Forest Service crews were already in the area on a training exercise. Using two helicopters (one from the USFS and one from BLM), the firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to other structures nearby. The nearby lake was used as a water source.

The mobile was a total loss, as was a wooden structure. There was $50,000 in damage to the structure, $25,000 to contents, and $10,000 to outbuildings, according to the Kern County Fire Department.

The 25 firefighters at the scene saved Tuttle's home next door, and put out numerous ember-caused fires that might have spread and wiped out more homes.

There were no injuries to anyone in the blaze. On scene were eight engines, two hand crews, five patrols, two water tenders, one air attack plane and the two helicopters.

Two more fires were reported Monday afternoon. The first one was in the Basket Pass area off of Rancheria Road. That one was kept to a tenth of an acre. Another one broke out in the canyon near the Democrat raft takeout while firefighters were still working on the Basket Fire. The Canyon Fire was contained at three acres. The cause of that one was human caused, said Geri Adams of the Forest Service.