A massive wildfire erupted on Sunday, September 4, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. PDT, resulting from the crash of a Cessna 210 Centurion single engine aircraft which went down in Blackburn Canyon, in the mountains near Tehachapi, CA located in Kern County, south of Bakersfield, killing both persons aboard the aircraft, according to reports published on Monday, September 5, 2011 by CBS News, the Ridgecrest Daily Independent, the Daily Mail, KGET-TV, the Aviation Safety Network, and other news outlets.
The names of those who were killed in the crash are being withheld, pending notification of next of kin, according to a statement by Kern County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) deputy Steven Hansen. Registration information of the aircraft is also not yet available, according to the Aviation Safety Network data base, incident number 138370.
The FAA in Los Angeles said it was not known how many people were on board the aircraft, but there were no reports of injuries on the ground.
The residents of about 100 homes have been forced to evacuate, making use of the ReadyKern system, a reverse dial and email automated alert which is sent out to all affected residents.
Messages are sent to all standard voice and text communication devices, including land line phones, cell phones, e-mail, and other hardware. If the person receiving the message doesn't confirm receipt, the system will try to reach a second contact number or email. The system will continue trying to contact these persons until it receives a confirmation from them.
Those forced to leave are being given shelter at Jacobsen Middle School, 711 Anita Drive in Tehachapi.
At least 600 fire fighters from the Kern County Fire Department, Cal Fire, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Los Angeles County (LACoFD) are battling the blaze, which has engulfed 4,800 acres and is estimated to be only 5% contained, as seen in the dramatic images contained in the attached slide show and video clip which accompany this report.
About 11 aircraft and 15 bulldozers are also fighting the inferno, from both the air and the ground. Kern County Animal Control was also organizing a rescue effort for some animals who had been burned.
First responders know that such fast moving blazes, feeding off dry brush, and fanned by strong winds, can be unpredictable and a danger to those fire fighters on the ground, who must always have an escape route available, should the direction of the flames shift.
Winds are a major factor in the area, which is located at almost 4,000 feet, and supports a large number of free standing turbines which generate electricity in clusters of wind farms.
September and October are the peak of the California fire season, although exact dates vary from year to year. These blazes consume thousands of acres of brush land that have been parched by the summer sun every year, and in most cases, have received no rainfall since the previous Spring.
Last summer, in the area of Old West Ranch, a housing development continuing 26 homes and 41 other buildings were destroyed by the West Fire, bringing back bitter memories to residents of the area.
Southern California is vulnerable to such natural disasters as earthquakes, wildfires, flash flooding, and even mudslides during the late Fall and Winter rainy season, when the ground can become saturated with runoff water.
The Cessna 210 Centurion is a six-seat, high-performance, retractable-gear single-engine general aviation aircraft which was first flown in January 1957 and offered by the Cessna Aircraft Company until 1985. It was produced between 1957-1986, with a total of 9,240 planes manufactured.
The aircraft uses a Continental Motors TSIO-520-R air-cooled turbocharged flat-six, 310 horse power single engine, has a maximum speed of 235 mph, a cruising speed of 222 mph, a stall speed of 67 mph, a range of 1,036 miles, a service ceiling of 27,000 feet, and a rate of climb of 930 feet/minute.
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