BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Unless you were inside all day Saturday, you likely saw black clouds of smoke rise from southeast Bakersfield.
In fact, you could see the smoke billowing from a warehouse from Interstate 5 over the Grapevine.
A fire from a huge warehouse lot on South Washington Street was visible for miles across Bakersfield this weekend.
An issue that isn’t new to this area.
“Well, we woke up and we just looked into the sky and we saw fire. Same looking fires that we’ve seen in the past coming from this area,” said Michael Hefler, a nearby resident close to the warehouse lot.
The warehouse lot has seen at least three fires in the past two years, the most recent in January of last year.
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“Loaded inside the building are large quantities of plastic recycling that are in big bales, and it’s on fire, it’s burning hot,” said Jonathan Drucker with the Kern County Fire Department. Drucker was on scene of last year’s fire.
The cause of this weekend’s fire is still under investigation, but it seems the state of the lot hasn’t changed much since the last blaze.
“Nobody’s in charge,” said Hefler.
However, according to the latest deed associated with the property, CalCot, a local cotton cooperative, sold warehouses to a company called Big Washington LLC in 2017.
The warehouses, still filled with bales of plastic, had sprinklers and proper fencing to minimize potential fire risks, but both have since been removed.
17 News has contacted Kern County Fire for more information.
Concerns of future fires and potential air pollution still persist.
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