wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
that was burning in the
Lake Isabella
Lake Isabella also called Isabella Lake, is a reservoir in Kern County, California, United States created by the earthen Isabella Dam. It was formed in 1953 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Kern River at the junction of its two f ...
area of
Kern County
Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield.
Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...
. It was the second-largest wildfire of the 2016 California wildfire season. It was also the first fire of the year to have fatalities and is the 15th most destructive fire in state history.
Events
The fire, which was first reported around 4:00pm PST on June 23, quickly grew to over and destroyed over 100 structures, including at least 80 residences, in the first few hours.
By mid-day on June 24, the fire had grown to over and was still 0% contained. By 6:00pm that day, officials confirmed that the fire had grown to over with 5% contained. That evening,
Governor Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Par ...
declared a
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
for
Kern County
Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield.
Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...
.
On June 28, Kern County Fire Department confirmed that 257 homes had been destroyed by the fire.
On July 1, Two Red Cross Shelters were set up north of Lake Isabella.
On July 11, the fire was 100% contained.
Fatalities
On June 24, officials confirmed that 2 people had been killed by the fast moving fire. Officials also stated that cadaver dogs were being used to search for possible additional victims. The deceased victims were an elderly couple who died while attempting to flee their home.
On June 25, a third set of remains was found, though the body had been burned so badly that it is unclear whether or not the remains belong to a human or an animal. On June 27, the Kern County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the remains belonged to an animal and not to a human.
InciWeb
InciWeb is an interagency all-risk incident Web information system, web information management system provided by the United States Forest Service released in 2004. It was originally developed for wildfire, wildland fire emergencies, but can be al ...