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Firefighters are throwing every tool at their disposal at a fast-moving blaze in Calif., not too far from Bakersfield. Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY
A handout photo released by the Kern County Fire Department on 23 June 2016 shows citizens helping combat the Erskine Fire as a house burns near Lake Isabella , California, USA, 23 June 2016. The Erskine fire is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, some 50 miles northeast of Bakersfield, California, USA.(Photo: PA/KERN COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT)
LAKE ISABELLA, Calif. — The unusually swift Erskine Fire overcame and killed two people fleeing its flames, and authorities fear they’ll find more dead as they sift through the wreckage of destroyed neighborhoods.
The fire sparked Thursday afternoon is now estimated at 30,000 acres and it has destroyed at least 80 homes. Most of those homes burned in a short period Thursday evening as high winds pushed the blaze east over a ridge. The fire left behind scorched brick, concrete and steel, but consumed almost everything else in some areas. After examining the damage, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said he believes the death toll will rise. He said authorities plan to use cadaver-sniffing dogs because some many homes were reduced to rubble.
"I’m fearful because this fire moved so rapidly,” Youngblood said as smoke rose into the sky behind him. “Certainly, I have fears. I hope they are wrong.”
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Firefighters pounded the blaze all Friday, hitting it with aerial drops, bulldozers and hand tools. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in the county Friday, freeing up additional resources. The Erskine Fire alone is bigger than all other wildfires combined in the state so far this year.
The fire melted electrical and communication lines, severing contact with the outside world for many residents who were forced to flee the flames Thursday evening.
"I've lost everything," said Anthony Kerns on Friday morning after checking on his now-destroyed mobile home in the South Lake area. Many of the mobile homes in the park were essentially vaporized, reduced to just their metal roof and perhaps a set of brick stairs.
Kearns said he took an afternoon nap Thursday and woke up to hear the news the fire was threatening his neighborhood. He looked out the window to see an inferno bearing down. He grabbed his laptop and dog, and hustled out.
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DEADLY CALIF. WILDFIRE NEAR BAKERSFIELDCalifornia wildfire explodes to 29 square miles | 1:11A wind-whipped wildfire burning among mountain communities in California's southern Sierra Nevada has ballooned to more than 29 square miles. (June 24) AP
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DEADLY CALIF. WILDFIRE NEAR BAKERSFIELDDeadly Erskine fire in Calif. | 0:28Firefighters are throwing every tool at their disposal at a fast-moving blaze in Calif., not too far from Bakersfield. Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY
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DEADLY CALIF. WILDFIRE NEAR BAKERSFIELDRaw: Wildfire destroys dozens of CA homes | 1:01A raging wildfire has destroyed at least 60 homes in central California. (June 24) AP
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DEADLY CALIF. WILDFIRE NEAR BAKERSFIELDErskine wildfire burns in Calf. | 0:32The Erskine wildfire burns more than 30,000 acres, prompting state of emergency outside Bakersfield, Calif. Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY NETWORK
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DEADLY CALIF. WILDFIRE NEAR BAKERSFIELDRaw: Firefighters Gaining Ground on Wildfire | 1:00In the Los Angeles area, firefighters stopped the progress of two adjacent fires in the San Gabriel Mountains 20 miles northeast of downtown L.A. (June 21) AP
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DEADLY CALIF. WILDFIRE NEAR BAKERSFIELDCalif. heat causes problems in battling wildfire | 1:45Firefighters worked to make gains against Southern California wildfires as an intense heat wave eased slightly Tuesday. AP
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DEADLY CALIF. WILDFIRE NEAR BAKERSFIELDRaw: Fire rips through Calif. canyons | 1:02A fleet of aircraft dropped water and retardant to combat a wind-driven wildfire burning out of control Thursday in rugged coastal canyons west of Santa Barbara, California. (June 16) AP
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"It was like a movie. Like a disaster movie," he said, his voice breaking. "I don't have no idea what I'm going to do. I've lost everything."
"This is devastating," said resident Sander Shulman. His house was unaffected, but he drove the area to check on his neighbors' property.
Three firefighters suffered smoke inhalation injuries, but and hundreds of reinforcements have poured into the area, summoned to fight yet another wildfire fueled by California's ongoing drought and hot summer temperatures. Authorities declined to identify the two people killed Thursday night, but said they apparently were overcome by smoke as they fled their home.
Six firefighting airplanes and seven firefighting helicopters joined the battle Friday as the blaze sent towering columns of smoke into the air. Speaking at a press conference, Youngblood pointed to the wind-whipped flags and 90-plus degree temperatures as evidence that firefighters have a long way to go. The fire destroyed at least one ranch home on Friday despite the presence of firefighters and multiple water drops from a helicopter.
Hundreds of people remain evacuated, and at least 100 are staying at a nearby school serving as a Red Cross shelter. Frustrated residents want to return to their neighborhoods to check on their homes, to retrieve and feed their pets, and to guard what little they have left from potential looters. Authorities pleaded for patience: Power lines are still down across the area, and firefighters are still battling the blaze on multiple fronts.
“The problem is this fire keeps shifting,” Youngblood said. “We are throwing all the resources we have at this."
California is a tinderbox of dead trees, which is fueling the fire risk. A new federal report says 26 million trees have died in the southern Sierra Nevada since October 2015, and those deaths are in addition to the 40 million trees that died across the state from 2010 to October 2015, bringing the total to at least 66 million dead trees. Four straight years of severe drought in California, a dramatic rise in bark beetle infestation and warmer temperatures are leading to historic levels of tree die-off, according to the report.
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