Reporting from Lake Isabella, Calif. — Tensions were running high Sunday at Kernville Elementary School, where dozens of evacuees camped out over the weekend as a massive wildfire continued to burn out of control in Kern County.
Robert Larsen sat by himself outside the school, drinking coffee.
“I want to go home,” said the 34-year-old Mountain Mesa resident, whose community around Lake Isabella was among those hardest hit by the Erskine fire, which has grown to more than 36,000 acres. “I just need to know what direction to go. “
Larsen was among dozens of people at the shelter who were losing patience with conflicting messages from law enforcement authorities about when evacuation orders would be lifted. They were eager to know if their homes and personal belongings had survived the devastation.
Advertisement
“That’s all we need – more information,” Larsen said. “Is my home there?”
Many of the evacuees at the shelter had not bathed in days and were still wearing the same grimy, smoky clothes they had arrived in after the fire broke out Thursday. So their hearts sank when Kern County fire officials announced Sunday afternoon that evacuation orders would remain in place indefinitely.
1/76
A religious icon stands in the charred remains of a neighborhood in South Lake.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
2/76
Bill Johnson found the bodies of neighbors Byron McKaig, 81, and his wife, Gladys, 90, against a corner of their fence. They didn t deserve it, he said.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
3/76
Garden decor is all that remains of a residence in South Lake.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
4/76
Charred trees line a street in a fire-ravahed section of South Lake.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
5/76
An employee of a gas supplier drives through a charred neighborhood in South Lake in search of propane tanks to remove.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
6/76
A burned truck is framed by a charred car port in South Lake.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
7/76
A burned-out car is one of the few recognizable items amid the charred debris where Byron and Gladys McKaig s home once stood. The McKaigs are the two confirmed casualties of the worst wildfire so far this year in California.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
8/76
Resident Dan Mayfield holds onto his daughter’s burned bed frame in the ashes of their home which burned in the Erskine Fire n Squirrel Mountain Valley.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
9/76
Resident Christina Mayfield,left, is consoled by neighbors Kathy and Jerry McDaniel after her home burned in the Erskine Fire in Squirrel Mountain Valley. The McDaniel’s home also burned a couple blocks away.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
10/76
Resident Christina Mayfield describes the fire as it came towards her “like a tornado.” She fled with only a photo album.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
11/76
Tyra Rene Fuller tears up a she finds a porcelain cast of her daughter’s handprint while soring through what’s left of her belongings after her home was destroyed by the Erskine fire in Lake Isabella, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
12/76
Tyra Rene Fuller sorts through what’s left of her belongings after her home in Lake Isabella’s South Lake neighborhood was destroyed by the Erskine fire.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
13/76
Brittany Olivia Thompson and Aquivo Sun embrace each other as they say goodbye to their home after finishing their search through rubble of their burned down home, in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
14/76
Brittany Olivia Thompson, from left, recovers Aquivo Sun’s burned antique rifles in the debris of their home which was destroyed by the wildfire, in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
15/76
James Hoover of South Lake hung this American flag on his burnt-out property as a symbol of hope for his neighbors. His home of 17 years was destroyed by the Erskine fire.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
16/76
James Hoover of South Lake, left, is consoled by friend David Keith at the charred ruins of Hoover’s home of 17 years.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
17/76
Investigators and a cadaver dog from Santa Clarita search through the rubble of a burned home in the Squirrel Mountain Valley.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
18/76
Power crews work to restore power lines and poles destroyed by the Erskine fire in the South Lake neighborhood.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
19/76
A frame is all that remains of an RV destroyed by the Erskine fire in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
20/76
A singed page from a flower book lies among the burned rubble of a destroyed home in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
21/76
Firefighters from Bakersfield mop up hot spots on Sunday in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella that was destroyed by wildfire.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
22/76
A child’s play table sits near the ruins of a home destroyed by the Erskine fire, in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
23/76
Firefighters from Bakersfield hose down hot spots left in the ruins of a Lake Isabella neighborhood on Sunday.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
24/76
Deacon Thomas Hunter begins the service where parishioners prayed in a moment of silence for the elderly couple that was killed in the Erskine fire during church services at St. Peters Anglican Church on June 26, 2016 in Kernville. The elderly couple were parishioners at the small congregation.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
25/76
Burned rubble is all that remains of the residence at the Erskine fire in Squirrel Mountain Valley.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
26/76
The Erskine fire burns behind a house east of Lake Isabella on Saturday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
27/76
Chris Myers, left, helps a family member recover a family heirloom among the rubble of a home in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella on Saturday.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
28/76
Kern County coroner personnel carry out human remains found in the burned rubble of a residence off Fiddleneck Street in South Lake.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
29/76
South Lake residents Sandy Lake, 63, and her son-in-law Chris Myers, 37, try to salvage items from Lake’s mobile home, which burned in the Erskine fire. “I was just devastated,” Lake said.
(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)
30/76
Carl Conklin of South Lake hopes to find some valuables from his burned home. He said he barely made it out in time Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
31/76
Entire neighborhoods have been leveled by the Erskine fire. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
32/76
Sean Traba of Newport Beach fishes on the north side of Lake Isabella as a giant plume from the Erskine fire grows in the background.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
33/76
The melted and burned frame of an 18-wheeler truck sits on the side of Kelso Valley Road in Weldon.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
34/76
Information officer Mark Savage briefs Kernville residents at an evacuation center.
(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)
35/76
A fireman fights to contain the Kern County wildfire.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
36/76
Buildings are consumed by the Kern County wildfire.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
37/76
Trees still smolder Saturday morning on a ranch which was destroyed by the Erskine Fire in Weldon.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
38/76
Properties still smolder Saturday morning after the Erskine Fire in Weldon.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
39/76
The melted and burned frame of an 18-wheeler truck sits on the side of Kelso Valley Road as the smoke from the Erskine Fire is visible in the background in Weldon.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
40/76
Rows of burned Joshua tress line the landscape as the head of the Erskine Fire burns in the background Saturday morning in Weldon, Calif.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
41/76
The sun sets as smoke fills the air looking west toward Lake Isabella.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
42/76
A car along Kelso Valley Road east of Lake Isabella burns during the Esrkine fire Friday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
43/76
Lt. Kyle Newton of the Tulare County Fire Department waters down the ashes of a home on Seclusion Road at Wildwood that was destroyed by the Erskine fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
44/76
Debris at a home on McCray Road where two bodies were found after it was destroyed by the Erskine Fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
45/76
A house along Kelso Valley Road east of Lake Isabella burns during the Esrkine fire Friday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
46/76
Residents Nelson Hernandez and his wife Michelle watch a neighbor’s house burn along Kelso Valley Road east of Lake Isabella during the Esrkine fire Friday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
47/76
Residents Sal Blanco, left, and Nelson Hernandez watch a neighbor’s house burn along Kelso Valley Road east of Lake Isabella during the Esrkine fire Friday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
48/76
Alex Thurman, 20, wanders along South Kelso Valley Road, checking on neighboring homes as they are engulfed in flames, in Weldon, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
49/76
A trailer is engulfed by flames, on South Kelso Valley Road, in Weldon, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
50/76
Fire engulfs homes along South Kelso Valley Road, in Weldon, Calif., on June 24, 2016.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
51/76
Lt. Kyle Newton from Tulare County Fire waters down smoke rising from a home on Seclusion Road that was destroyed by flames in the Erskine Fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
52/76
The wildfire still rages on in the mountains after it tore through a South Lake neighborhood in Lake Isabella.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
53/76
Robert Larsen, a fire evacuee, takes a nap at Kernville Elementary School.
(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)
54/76
Fire burns in the mountains far behind a home on Sagebrush Road destroyed in the Erskine Fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
55/76
Louis Reyes comforts his wife Kimberly Tieche outside of Kernville Elementary School after hearing that their house had burned down in the Erskine Fire.
(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)
56/76
The wildfire still rages on in the mountains after it tore through a South Lake neighborhood in Lake Isabella.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
57/76
The aftermath of a wildfire destroying a South Lake neighborhood in Lake Isabella.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
58/76
Fire burns in the mountains far behind a home on Sagebrush Road destroyed in the Erskine Fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
59/76
Susan DeFussi, is comforted by her partner, Mike Cargill, at the Red Cross evacuation Center in Kernville Friday. DeFussi and Cargill had to run for their lives and lost their home in the Cooks Peak area of Squirrel Valley to the raging Erskine fire.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
60/76
Evacuee Jan Ryan looks at wounds left from evacuating her dogs as she joins other evacuees at the Red Cross evacuation Center in Kernville Friday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
61/76
The aftermath of the Erskine fire after it tore through the Squirrel Mountain Valley neighborhood in Lake Isabella, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
62/76
Still smoldering, smoke rises from a destroyed stucture after the Erskine fire after it tore through the Squirrel Mountain Valley neighborhood in Lake Isabella, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
63/76
The aftermath of the Erskine Wildfire after it tore through the Squirrel Mountain Valley neighborhood in Lake Isabella, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
64/76
Firefighters from Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit pay close attention to a wildfire moving in from every direction in Kelso Valley as the blaze progresses east with the winds near Lake Isabella, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
65/76
A charred landscape is left after the Erskine fire tore through the Squirrel Mountain neighborhood in Lake Isabella, Calif., on Friday, June 24.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
66/76
A Kern County firefighter tries to extinguish as much flame as possible inside a burning tree trunk as strong winds blow through Squirrel Mountain Valley, in Lake Isabella, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
67/76
The Black Eagles fire crew from Porterville lights a backfire in Lake Isabella, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
68/76
A wildfire engulfs the mountains above Lake Isabella, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
69/76
The remains of a car smolder after the Erskine fire rages by Lake Isabella in Kern County.
(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)
70/76
Engine 74 firefighter Adam Lind, 24, watches as the Erskine fire rages by Lake Isabella.
(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)
71/76
The Erskine fire rages in the mountains in Kern County.
(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)
72/76
A Kern County firefighter monitors the blaze as it creeps near a Lake Isabella neighborhood.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
73/76
Don Erwin, left, and Jim Griffin take a break as they help create a fire break outside their neighbor’s home in Lake Isabella.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
74/76
A home is destroyed by wildfire in Lake Isabella.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
75/76
A firefighter controls the flames before they reach homes in Lake Isabella.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
76/76
A home is destroyed by wildfire in Lake Isabella on Thursday.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
“No one is going back into these areas until it safe to do so,” said Anthony Romero, a spokesman for Kern County. That message, he conceded, “is as frustrating to deliver as it must be frustrating to hear for all these people.”
Advertisement
The fire, which has destroyed more than 200 structures and continues to threaten thousands more, is only 10% contained, he said. Temperatures in the area are also forecast to remain above normal, with highs around 100 degrees into Tuesday.
“The trouble is, many of these properties lack water and power, and they are covered with hazardous substances, including asbestos,” Romero said. “When you’re without water and power, you’re in an inhospitable home.”
But not everyone was willing to wait.
Ken and Judy Brown worried that thieves would use back roads to circumvent police barricades, make their way to the fire-ravaged South Lake community and loot the remains of their mobile home.
Advertisement
Of particular concern was a buried safe that guarded his wife’s jewelry, and 100 Susan B. Anthony silver dollars.
On Sunday, Ken Brown, 76, told his wife he had something important to do and would be back soon.
An hour later, he was in his pickup truck, roaring along the back roads on the south side of the lake, without a law enforcement officer in sight.
“Our mobile home was burned to the ground,” he said. “I went to the area where the safe should be, fell to my knees and started digging through the ashes with my hands.”
“I felt the top of the safe, and the lid was open,” he said. “I reached down a little further and grabbed hold of some silver dollars and bracelets.”
“Then I thought, ‘Oh man, is Judy going to love this,” he recalled with a smile.
Within a few minutes, he filled a large plastic bag with some of his wife’s most cherished jewelry pieces, many of them misshapen, fused and melted by intense heat.
Advertisement
Smudged with ash and dirt, he presented the recovered valuables to his wife, who had been waiting patiently at the Red Cross shelter in Kernville.
Fighting back tears and clutching the bag to her chest, his wife could only say, “Look at what my husband got for me. Can you believe it?”
Firefighters continue to battle the deadly Erskine fire, which has burned in a random pattern, razing some neighborhoods and leaving others nearby untouched.
Tyra Fuller, 50, also managed to return to her South Lake neighborhood Sunday. Standing near the blackened rubble that was once her home, Fuller picked up a ceramic unicorn on the ground that wasn’t charred by the fire.
“It’s amazing the things that survive,” she said.
Fuller said she had lived in her home for 16 years. As a child, Fuller said she would spend summer vacations with her mom and grandmother’s cousin in Lake Isabella. The house was later passed down to her uncle until 2000 when she inherited it.
Among the items she recovered from the ruins were her mother’s cast iron teapot and her ceramic unicorns. Lost were her baby book, vintage camera and film.
Advertisement
“My life,” she said.
As the fire continued to rage Sunday on the ridgelines surrounding the lake, a handful of parishioners at St. Peter’s Anglican Church gathered for a 10 a.m. service that included a moment of silence in honor of the two oldest members of their tiny congregation, victims of the wildfire.
Seven people showed up for the service at the church, a modest wood-framed house of worship on the outskirts of this resort community straddling the Kern River. The other half of the congregation was unable to attend because they were holdouts in nearby evacuation zones and worried that law enforcement authorities would prevent them from returning home.
The victims’ names were not mentioned in the sermon presided over by Deacon Thomas Hunter because the Kern County coroner’s office has still not formally revealed their identities.
“It’s very sad,” said Hunter, who voluntarily leads the flock that has grown too small over the years to warrant a priest. “The man who died had just gotten out of the hospital, where he had been treated for an infected toe. His wife suffered from severe Alzheimer’s.”
Authorities believe the couple died of smoke inhalation after waves of fire, smoke and embers invaded their neighborhood Thursday.
Advertisement
On Saturday, fire officials also discovered what they believed to be human remains in a burned-out mobile home in South Lake. More than 100 trailers and houses were burned in a 1-square-mile area there.
The coroner is still trying to confirm whether the fire had claimed a third victim.
Louis Sahagún is a former Los Angeles Times staff writer who covered issues ranging from religion, culture and the environment to crime, politics and water. He was on the team of L.A. Times writers that earned the Pulitzer Prize in public service for a series on Latinos in Southern California and the team that was a finalist in 2015 for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news. He is a former board member of CCNMA: Latino Journalists of California and author of the book “Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall.”
Ruben Vives is a general assignment reporter for the Los Angeles Times. A native of Guatemala, he got his start in journalism by writing for The Times’ Homicide Report in 2007. He helped uncover the financial corruption in the city of Bell that led to criminal charges against eight city officials. The 2010 investigative series won the Pulitzer Prize for public service and other prestigious awards.
