Kern County firefighters are looking for an arsonist and they have dramatic video to help with their search.
Early New Year's Day, someone started a fire at the Shell gas station in Kernville and it's was caught on camera.
Investigators say catching arsonists can be tedious. There are lots of ashes to sift through to see how and where a fire started.
But, when it's on video, it makes their job much easier.
This fire started around 4 a.m. Tuesday at the Shell station on Kernville Road. Surveillance video shows a man stumbling around and hovering over a small fire. Then he walks around the building and gets something to add fuel to the fire. Then it's just a matter of minutes until the whole building is in flames.
"The station is basically about a block from our fire station in Kernville. So, when crews arrived on scene it was going pretty good. It got into the structure, started on the outside and moved inside the structure. The main structure is still up. There is a lot of damage on the inside where all of the products and things are held," explained Captain Eric Coughran, Kern County Fire Department.
If you have any information on the fire or saw suspicious activity in the area, you're asked to call the fire tip line at 1-877-FIRE-TIP.
Damage is estimated at $500,000.
