Weary firefighters continue their battle against the "Bull Fire", still burning along the Kern River, north of Kernville.
More than 5,000 acres have burned with only 5% containment.
Fire officials say a half dozen homes have been destroyed.
The Bull Fire started as a small brush fire just before two in the afternoon on the west side of the Kern River.
Part of the Sequoia Lodge went up in flames and there was a shell of a burned out mobile home next door.
But many homes were spared, thanks to firefighters and some neighborly teamwork.
"When we got here, the whole house around it was on fire. I got up on the roof, and I was just hosing down and everyone around here was helping," said Riverkern resident Abie Lyons.
Firefighters say there are no homes immediately in the path of the fire at this time.
The American Red Cross has a shelter open in Lake Isabella at the Senior Center.
The address is 6409 Lake Isabella Boulevard, just off Highway 178 near Highway 155.
The Red Cross will remain at the Senior Center throughout the morning.
They are providing cots, food, water and breakfast for anyone there this morning.
The following is a news release from the Kern County Fire Department:
BULL FIRE– CA, On Monday July 26th 2010 at approximately 1:45 P.M., the US Forest
Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Kern County Fire Department responded to a
vegetation fire in the area of Burlando Road, west of the Kern River in Kernville.
The fire is an estimated 4200 acres. There are approximately 500 personnel on scene with many
more en-route. Firefighters battled for several hours in the area of Burma Rd and Burlando Rd,
their efforts and hard work saved all of the structures in that area.
However, after initial assessment it appears that the fire destroyed 6 primary residences in the area of Riverkern.
Firefighters are still working hard to provide structure protection in both areas.
There are no reported injuries.
For more information telephone a 24hr helpline is available: United States Forest Service at (760) 376-3781 ext 0
