For neighbors along Belle Terrace in Bakersfield, concerns about a vacant property have been building for months. After two fires broke out there just days apart in September, some residents say they are increasingly worried about their safety.
Susan Williams lives next to the property and said the problems began not long after the previous residents moved out. She said people started showing up at the home within weeks.
“It was no more than two or three weeks from them moving out to people moving in,” Williams said.
Over time, she said, the condition of the property and the activity around it became more concerning.
“Little by little it just got worse and worse,” Williams said.
Williams said she frequently sees people coming and going from the property. Her concerns intensified in September when two fires broke out there within days of each other.
During the second fire, Williams said she woke up in the middle of the night and immediately realized something was wrong.
“At 1:30 my dogs bark. I looked at my window and it was red. When I opened the blind, it was fire,” Williams said.
The fires also raised concerns about how quickly Williams and her husband could get out of their home in an emergency. Williams said her husband has a disability, making a fast evacuation more difficult.
Neighbor Linda Aguirre said her sons saw the glow from the fire and rushed over to help.
“My sons saw the fire, the light through his room. And that’s when he woke up my other son and they ran over here and helped her get him out of the house,” Aguirre said.
Other people living nearby said they were also worried the flames could spread to surrounding homes.
“We also really thought we’d have a problem with our houses maybe burning down. But it looks like we’re lucky on that,” neighbor Sidney Kelley said.
Williams said she is grateful for the first responders who came to help during the fires, but she and her neighbors still want the property secured and a longer-term solution to the problems they say have continued there.
Eyewitness News is also looking into what the City of Bakersfield and Bakersfield Fire Department say is being done about the property and why resolving the issues has taken time.