Central California Counties Fight 3 Wildfires

Crews battle fires in Fresno County, California, on June 25, 2024. (Cal Fire/Fresno County Fire Protection District)

Three Central California fires have caused evacuations in Kern and San Luis Obispo counties.

Thirty people were evacuated over the weekend after a fire started just before noon July 13 south of the Twin Lakes community in Kern County, about 60 miles south of Bakersfield.

The fire burned about 8 square miles and was 17 percent contained Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

“This fire is moving through heavy brush and inaccessible wilderness areas,” the Kern County Fire Department wrote in an update Sunday.

A second fire started at 3 p.m. July 13 in the Tejon Ranch near Arvin, about 22 miles southeast of Bakersfield. About 1,000 people have been evacuated since the fire started, according to fire officials. The evacuation order was lifted Monday morning, according to the Kern County Fire Department.

By Monday, the fire had burned 15.5 square miles and was 50 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

The Tejon Ranch is a large, private operation raising cattle and crops, growing almonds, pistachios, wind grapes, and other crops.

“It spread rapidly through thick, dry grass and brush and prompted evacuation orders in portions of the Stallion Springs and Bear Valley Springs communities,” Kern County fire wrote in an update Sunday.

No structures were lost in the fire.

A third fire was sparked by lightning on July 14 in San Luis Obispo County and had burned nearly 20 square miles by Monday, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

Evacuation orders remained in place for areas of neighboring Kern County in the path of the fire. No homes or buildings has burned as of Monday, according to the BLM.

The wind-driven fire is burning in rangeland grasses and is 75 percent contained.

The blaze started on federally managed land in San Luis Obispo but has moved into parts of Kern County, BLM reported.

Evacuation orders were issued for parts of Kern County west of Derby Acres but those were lifted Monday morning, Kern County fire officials announced.

No structures were damaged Monday as the area expected hot, dry weather to continue.