House Burned Down Irresponsibly by Fire Department

Saturday 27 September 2014 01:20:00 PM

Location: Mannel and Merced, Shafter, CA 93263

Categorie: Toxic Substances

Description:

On September 26, 2014 at approximately 2:45 pm a house was lit on fire by the Kern County Fire Department and burned to the ground. The house was very old and contained both material containing asbestos and lead paint. The house was located at the corner of Mannel and Merced and less than one mile north of the town of Shafter. The smoke from the fire, which no doubt contained toxic lead gas emissions and asbestos fibers was blown directly south and 5 to 10 miles per hour. At the same time as this fire, students at both an elementary school less than a mile south and a high school less than 1.5 miles south were releasing students to go home. This was an irresponsible act by the owner of the home, Occidental Petroleum or Vintage Petroleum, and the fire department. Hopefully the cleanup of the site will not release any more asbestos into the air. The fire was still burning and smoking the next day at 5 pm. Apparently the fire department forgot to put out the fire. They were practicing on a couple small fires in the house earlier in the day before they cleared everything away and burned the house to the ground. The final burn was not necessary and irresponsible because of the nearby town and the potential for toxic emissions, including asbestos, to blow into the town when children were outside.