VIDEO: Canyon Fire Lights Up Wind Farm Over Tehachapi Pass
The massive fire ignited by a double-fatality plane crash in Blackburn Canyon, Tehachapi, on Sunday has since raged through nearly 15,000 acres of Kern County. A dozen homes have been destroyed, and 650 more are under evacuation orders. Bakersfield Now has some incredible aerial shots of the firefighting effort; meanwhile, the Huffington Post, among others, are pretending to have footage of the tragic crash that sparked the blaze.
YouTube Earth, wind & wildfire
But we've only seen one video so far that has really stolen our breath, capturing the Rapture-esque magnitude of this opening scene to the Worst Fire Season Ever:
It shows a pink and orange sky above Kern County's famous Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm (coincidentally on track to become the largest in America), the nearby hills fringed in flames. YouTube user GrungeHobbit shoots the pending horror from the north, in Sand Canyon:
Here's the latest from the Kern County Fire Department, as of noon on Tuesday:
The fire is burning in a mix of grass, brush, oak and pine trees in steep rugged terrain with heavy fuels. A high mortality of pines trees in this area is generating intense fire activity. As the fire continues to burn to the southeast, a portion of the fire is transitioning out of the hills onto the desert floor, comprised of sparse brush and grass. The communities of Old West Ranch, Oak Creek and Rosamond continue to be threatened due to possible wind changes. Windmill Farms and Southern California Edison Infrastructure and Power lines continue to be at risk. Firefighters are working in extreme conditions, with low humidity and the potential for erratic winds. Fire Crews continue to diligently protect structures, build control line and start mop up operations using crews, dozers and aircraft.
Freaky stuff -- and the SoCal countryside is only going to get more flammable as the week goes on. But damn does it make a pretty picture.
(Runner-up fire video of the day: Steam-punk octopus burns in the Black Rock Desert. Thankfully, though, that one was more than 10 percent controlled. Albeit by flaky acid trippers.)
[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
