TAFT, Calif,  Sunday evening, Kern County firefighters responded to reports of a structure fire with a person and a dog inside, in the 300 block of San Emidio Street. When crews arrived, they found a single-family, single-story home on fire. After assessing the situation, it was confirmed that the person was able to escape the home, but the dog was still inside. Our firefighters braved the smoke, flames and heat to go into the home to rescue the dog. After the dog was out of the home, crews were able to knock down the fire within minutes. 

Over the past week, our Incident Commanders have been relentless in their pursuit of making sure that our firefighters stay hydrated and have cooling mechanisms in place while fighting fires with extreme heat in and around the county. This incident was no exception, as additional breathing support was ordered, to make sure we remain vigilant in taking the utmost care of our personnel.