Southern California fire sparked by plane crash continues to spread

Southern California fire sparked by plane crash continues to spread

2011-09-06 08:07:53 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEHACHAPI, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) -- A large fire in southern California which was initiated by a small plane crash on Sunday has continued to spread, officials said on Monday. Residents also reported seeing a rare phenomenon called a fire tornado.

The fire began when a small single-engine Cessna 210 Centurion aircraft crashed on Sunday at around 11.30 a.m. local time on the Old West Ranch in the Blackburn Canyon, located just south of Tehachapi, around 35 miles (56 kilometers) east-southeast of Bakersfield.

As of Monday morning, the Kern County Fire Department (KCFD) said the Canyon Fire had spread to around 4,759 acres (1,925 hectares) while only about five percent was contained. Local media reported on Monday afternoon that the fire had grown to about 5,700 acres (2,306 hectares).

KCFD said one structure had been destroyed as of Monday morning, while 650 residents and 150 out buildings are threatened by the spreading fires. Local media later reported that at least a dozen structures had already been destroyed.

At least six hundred firefighters, twenty-five engines, fifteen dozers, four helicopters, and seven air tankers from agencies including Cal Fire, United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Kern County Sheriff, and Los Angeles County Fire have been deployed to the area.

But the firefighting efforts have been further challenged by erratic winds and steep, rugged terrain. With hundreds of local residents being evacuated, officials set up a temporary relief center for evacuees at Jacobsen Junior High School in Tehachapi.

Jeannine Giuffre, president of the Greater Tehachapi Area Fire Safe Council and a resident of Old West Ranch, told the Tehachapi News that the flames developed an extreme behavior, creating a fire tornado with flame lengths between 200 and 300 feet (61 and 91 meters) high.

Witnesses said entire trees were ripped out and taken by the whirling flames, while one resident also reported seeing a trailer flying through the flames. Fire tornadoes are a rare phenomenon created under certain conditions, most often during wildfires.

Although there have been no casualties as a result of the fire, Sunday's plane crash is believed to have killed two men from Southern California. Few details about their deaths have been released.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-09-06