Valerie Cassity
Special to the Sun

Last Thursday and Friday, the Forest Service held two special meetings at the Senior Center in Lake Isabella and the Oddfellows Hall in Kernville to update the community on the status of the Bull Fire. The fire began around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, July 26, and is now 95 percent contained, with one or two stubborn hot spots.

The stats continue to change as the days pass, but one thing that Rocky Opliger of the San Bernadino National Forest, who is serving Incident Commander for the Bull Fire, stressed was that fire is a natural part of this ecosystem, and that fuels reduction efforts around homes is the best way to help ensure that homes remain intact in the event of the inevitable fires that sweep through the Kern Valley.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, center, and Kern County Fire Chief Nick Dunn made an unannounced appearance at Friday night’s community meeting at the Odd Fellows Hall in Kernville. Above, McCarthy talks with Sequoia National Forest Supervisor Tina Terrell.

“You know you live in a fire-dependent ecosystem; there’s no doubt you are going to have fires,” said Opliger. “The chaparral that is abundant here needs to burn at least every 18-23 years, and the last big fire we had in this area was the Stormy fire in 1990.”

Despite the inevitability of the fire, the response to it was swift and effective; there were more than 2,400 firefighters working around the clock to ensure that the fire did not spread. The biggest concern at the time of the meeting was holding the east line of the fire, preventing it from burning back around into Kernville. Opliger said that the local rafting companies have been incredibly helpful in shuttling the firefighters across the river as needed. “We couldn’t have done it without them,” he said.

The good news is that no lives have been lost, no serious injuries reported, and no campgrounds have been destroyed in the Bull Fire. The bad news, of course, is that eight homes and six outbuildings were lost to the flames.

It was stressed that people need to help the firefighters do their jobs by being patient behind fire and water truck convoys, and allow them to get where they are going by pulling over when the sirens are sounding. “Our highest priority is always going to be firefighter and public safety,” said Opliger.

The community members at the meeting were full of praise for the firefighters and suggestions about how the information could be disseminated more quickly in the event of the next inevitable fire. For example, Ron Wermuth recollected that the Forest Service used to have a radio station that would broadcast alerts and information to the community as needed, and suggested that that service be resurrected for emergencies such as these.

Another woman encouraged everyone to register with ReadyKern, a reverse 911 system in which anyone who signs up will be called and/or emailed in the event of an emergency. Sequoia National Forest Tina Terrell suggested that everyone register all of their phones and email addresses for the service, so that if one delivery system goes out you will still get the message through a different medium. To register for ReadyKern, visit their website at readykern.com, or call 211 if you do not have internet access.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Kern County Fire Chief Nick Dunn made an announced appearance at Friday night’s meeting. McCarthy pledged his support for those affected by the fire.