8/26 AM Update

Thank you to the more than 12,000 visitors who watched and shared the Wednesday evening virtual community meeting featured through Facebook live. If you were unable to join, the meeting is posted to the Sequoia National Forest, Kern County Fire Department and the Bureau of Land Managements’ (California) Facebook sites. Another virtual meeting is being planned for later this week. See the Sequoia National Forest’s Facebook page or the French Fire – Inciweb announcements page for future virtual meeting invites.

The French Fire, started on Wednesday, August 18, west of Lake Isabella in Kern County, has now burned 22,030 acres with 19 percent containment. The fire is being managed by California Interagency Incident Management Team 12, coordinating closely with the Bureau of Land Management, Sequoia National Forest, and Kern County Fire Department in Unified Command.

On Wednesday, August 25, crews were able to continue the hard work from the night prior in the Alta Sierra, Pala Ranches, and Wofford Heights’ communities, directly engaging the fire and were successful at corralling the fire to the west of the Cane Peak Ct area. Fire crews are making good progress in securing the fire from Highway 155 (Evans Road) to the 2014 Shirley Fire footprint. Crews, engines and helicopters remain focused on structure protection and continue working day and night.

The work in the Dutch Meadow and Hungry Gulch areas continue to hold along the southeastern edge of the fire. There are still evacuation orders and road closures in place for those communities since crews and equipment specialist are working to make sure it’s safe to repopulate. Crews continue to improve existing containment lines in case wind shifts out of the northwest incur and push the fire to the southeast. The fire team has prepared an additional camp in Glenville and provided resources on the west side of the fire to keep it from progressing towards that community. There are already alternate containment lines on the west of the fire along White Mill Road, towards Fulton Creek.

There is a team in place to assess structure and property damage. This process will take time, as there is still active fire that presents a danger to the personnel working on the assessment. Once the information is collected, the appropriate authorities will validate it, and notifications will be made to property owners.

Poor humidity recoveries occurred tonight at all elevations, with breezy west to northwest winds persisting through midnight. On Thursday, August 26, warm temperatures, along with another round of very dry conditions, is forecasted for later. High temperatures will climb at or above 100 degrees at the lower elevations with afternoon humidity dropping to near 10 percent. During the afternoon hours breezy down canyon winds will set up once again within the canyons that drain into Lake Isabella. In addition, dry and unstable conditions will lead to a Haines of 5.

French Fire - UPDATE #11/12 - Imminent Threat Unchanged -plus- Update to New Evacuation Warning. Details below.

UPDATE: As of 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Este es un mensaje de la seguridad. Para espanol, llame a 2-1-1. Gracias

Due to the recent days of fire activity and to support future fire suppression efforts, as well as for the safety of the community and firefighters, the following ORDERS and WARNINGS are in effect:

EVACUATION ORDERS:

• Wofford Heights East. All of Wofford Heights is now in an EVACUATION ORDER.
• Keyesville North. All of Keysville is now in an EVACUATION ORDER.
• All other previous EVACUATION ORDERS remain in effect.
• Hwy 155 (also known as: Burlando Road, Wofford Blvd.) is closed from Plater Road south to Hwy 178.

An Evacuation Order means that the French Fire is an immediate threat to life. An Evacuation Order is a lawful order to leave now and seek shelter away from the fire area. The area is lawfully closed to public access. An Evacuation Order will likely be the last order given.

EVACUATION WARNING:

All of Kernville on both sides of the Kern River continue to remain in an EVACUATION WARNING. Last evening’s ReadyKern message identified only the areas of Kernville west of the Kern River.

The community of Riverkern near the Kern-Tulare County border is now in an EVACUATION WARNING.

An Evacuation Warning means that the French Fire is a potential threat to life and/or property, and all residents are advised to be prepared to leave the area at a moment’s notice if it becomes necessary. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets and livestock, should leave now.

The previous EVACUATION ORDERS and EVACUATION WARNINGS remain in effect.

There will be no escorts provided by Law Enforcement, Fire Personnel, or Forest Personnel.

You can search your address in the French Fire Interactive Evacuation Map posted at kerncountyfire.org.

The evacuation center is located at Woodrow Wallace Elementary School, 3240 Erskine Creek Road, Lake Isabella. Animal Services will assist with sheltering companion animals at the center.

If you have physical limitations and require evacuation assistance, please call the Aging & Adult Services hotline at 1-855-264-6565.

If you have an emergency, call 911. If you have any questions about the content of this message, please contact Kern County Information and Referral Services at 2-1-1. Thank you.

Fire Closures:

The BLM has temporarily closed the Keysville Special Recreation Management Area to all public access due to wildland fire danger.

Forest Fire Area Closure:

Forest Order 0513 21 25 French Fire area Roads and Trails Closure and Map

To protect visitors, mountain communities, staff and firefighters, Forest Order 0513-21-25 was issued, Saturday, August 21, 2021. Please view the full order with exhibits and map for more information.

Fire Restrictions:

Public lands managed by the Sequoia National Forest and the BLM Bakersfield Field Office are under Fire Restrictions at this time. The use of propane stoves with an on/off switch is permitted, but campfires are not allowed.