'Burns like gasoline': 4th warehouse full of plastic burns in complex with history of fires
Mar 13, 2025
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- Four warehouses in four months. Seemingly dropping like flies, the warehouses on Washington Street can't stop lighting up, as another huge warehouse fire broke out at 4:30 a.m., on Wednesday.
"They were able to get on scene even faster than the normal protocols of be
ing dispatched from their fire station," said Andrew Freeborn, captain with the Kern County Fire Department.
Kern County firefighters were nearby wrapping up another incident when they saw the smoke.
"The fire was very intense because this building, which is very large, does not have fire sprinklers in it and it has a lot of plastic wrap that is in very large bundles inside," said Freeborn. "That plastic material burns more or less like gasoline."
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The intense flames could be felt as far away as the length of a football field.
No matter how often KCFD fights these fires, they somehow keep on catching. In November 2024, two warehouses burned and they held the exact same plastic bundles.
In January, another warehouse burned to ash, that had a smoke plume you could see across the county. It too, held the plastic bundles.
Now, March marks four fires total.
There isn't anything in these warehouses that could start a fire.
KCFD said that the causes of all fires are still being investigated.
"There is still nothing put in place to secure that building or the property around it, so there is certainly something that needs to be done from a prevention, from a code enforcement standpoint, to make sure that these buildings stay secure," said Freeborn. ...read more read less