As 15,000 Acres Burn in Kern County, Gilroy Sends Help

Gilroy has sent a group of firefighters to help in Kern County after lightning sparked dozens of fires in the area on Saturday, said Capt. Joshua Valverde of the Gilroy Fire Department

More than 50 fires have burned an estimated 15,000 wildland acres in the county on that day alone, prompting officials to request aid from Cal Fire and other agencies from around the state, according to the Kern County Fire Department.

Officials called a state of emergency in the area on Saturday, saying some structures are now in danger.

Gilroy’s contribution includes one off-road "type III" engine and a group of four firefighters who left the city around 9 p.m., said the captain. The group joined three other engine companies from the Santa Clara County Fire Department, forming a strike team that will act under the command of fire officials in Kern County.

"This is historic for us," Valverde said. "We've sent the type III to help with incidents in the county, but this is the first time we've sent it out of the area."

Sending the team had no effect on staffing in the city, Valverde said, as other Gilroy firefighters came to fill the resulting vacancies.

It takes nearly four hours to drive to Bakersfield, the Kern County seat, from Gilroy, according to online estimates.

By Saturday evening, firefighters had contained only 10 percent of the largest “Comanche fire," which has burned 4,000 acres while stoked by 40 mile-per-hour winds. Other fires are in varying levels of containment, according to the Kern County Fire Department.

“For many of these fires, steep terrain, heavy brush, large amounts of fuel, low humidity and erratic wind conditions pose extremely difficult challenges for firefighters,” said the agency.

In fires as large as the ones burning in Kern County, state funds will reimburse local agencies for the personnel and other expenses they incur for providing aid.

Further lightning and high winds are expected throughout the weekend, according to firefighters.

Joining the firefighting efforts of distant agencies is common in a large-scale incident. Gilroy firefighters left the city in April to help fight a fire that consumed a cold-storage facility in Watsonville.