BAKERSFIELD, Calif., Just after 2:00 pm Tuesday, the Kern County Emergency Communications Center received multiple calls reporting a residential house on fire. A reinforced structure fire response was dispatched, including Kern County and Bakersfield City firefighters. Upon arrival, firefighters encountered heavy fire and smoke from a two-story, multi-unit dwelling. The fire had also already spread to another nearby house on the same property and was threatening two additional houses on adjoining properties. Firefighters worked to simultaneously stop the fire from spreading further while beginning victim searches in the houses on fire. Within 30 minutes of arriving on scene a knockdown was declared on the fire and searches verified there were no occupants in the houses at the time of the fire. There were no injuries reported by civilians or fire personnel.

Early in the incident law enforcement was requested for traffic control to reduce traffic congestion. As a reminder, please safely pull to the right of the roadway when you see emergency lights, and do not congest roadways around emergencies scenes.