In Kern County, a wildfire has rapidly expanded, growing from 100 acres to a staggering 2,000 acres in a matter of hours on Thursday. Firefighters are contending with the challenging landscape near Ridgecrest, as reported by CAL FIRE.
Named the Canyon Fire, the blaze was initially reported at 3:54 p.m. close to the intersection of Highway 14 and Highway 178.
By 4:02 p.m., authorities noted that the fire had quickly covered 100 acres and remained completely uncontained.
A mere 10 minutes later, the wildfire had surged to 800 acres, and by 5:52 p.m., it had dramatically expanded to 2,000 acres.
As night fell, fire crews were dedicated to reinforcing and extending control lines, though the challenging terrain posed significant obstacles to accessing the fire zone.
“Firefighters continue to build and improve control lines. Terrain is making access difficult,” stated an update released at 6:21 p.m.
The incident falls under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and is not a CAL FIRE-managed incident.
The fire is burning near the El Paso Mountains Wilderness area outside Ridgecrest.
Officials said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
