The Kern County Fire Department (KCFD) provides fire protection and emergency response services for the unincorporated areas of

Kern County, California Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county ...

, and for multiple cities within the county. The department covers an area which spans over . In addition to the

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

s of Kern County, the department also services the cities of Arvin,

Delano Delano or DeLano may refer to: Places in the United States * Delano, California * Delano, Wichita, Kansas, a neighborhood in Wichita and former community before merging with Wichita * Delano, Minnesota * Delano, Nevada * Delano, Pennsylvania * De ...

, Maricopa,

McFarland McFarland may refer to: People *McFarland (surname) Places in the United States *McFarland, California, a city *McFarland, Kansas, a city *McFarland, Missouri, a ghost town *McFarland, Wisconsin, a village Other uses * USS ''McFarland'' (DD-237) ...

, Ridgecrest, Shafter, Taft, Tehachapi and Wasco.

Equipment

Helicopters

The KCFD has two

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

s in their air operations unit, ''H-407'' and ''H-408''. Both are Bell UH-1 "Huey"s and are fitted for both hoisting of personnel for a rescue as well as for dropping of water during a fire. The underside can also be fitted with water dropping tanks that carry 320 gallons of water and have the ability to pump water from a reservoir or other water source or they can be filled on the ground with fire hoses.

Emergency operations

Battalion 1 - Central Mountains/Desert

Battalion 1 comprises the southeastern portion of Kern County. It is divided by Highway 58 that runs east and west and by Highway 14 that runs north and south. A portion of the

California Aqueduct The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern and Central California to Southern California. Named after Cali ...

, which runs north and south, serves as the eastern boundary of the State Responsibility Area (SRA) for Battalion 1. The western edge of the SRA in Battalion 1 is established by the southeastern edge of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

. Battalion one provides fire protection services for the incorporated cities of Tehachapi, Arvin and

Rosamond Rosamond is a feminine given name, which may refer to: People *Rosamond Carr (1912–2006), American humanitarian and author *Rosamund Clifford (before 1150 – c. 1176), English mistress of King Henry II * Rosamond Langbridge (1880–1964), Irish ...

. Station 11 in Keene serves as HQ for Battalion 1. There is also Stations 12,13,14,15,16,17,18 and a Camp station. ;Stations *11: Keene (Battalion 1 HQ) *12: Tehachapi *13: Golden Hills *14: Mojave *15: Rosamond *16: Bear Valley *17: Boron *18: Stallion Springs *Camp 8: Monolith

Battalion 2 - Western Kern

Battalion 2 makes up most of the west side of the County of Kern, specifically areas west of Highway 33 and the area surrounding Highway 166. There are no large incorporated cities within Battalion 2. Station 21 in Taft serves as Battalion 2 HQ. There is also Stations 22,23,24,25 and 26. ;Stations *21: Taft (Battalion 2 HQ) *22: Maricopa *23: Fellows *24: McKittrick *25: Buttonwillow *26: Lost Hills

Battalion 3 - North Kern

Battalion 3 includes the north central portion of the county with Highway 65 serving as the western boundary. Station 33 in McFarland serves as Battalion 3 HQ and there is also Stations 31,32,34,35,36 and 37. ;Stations *31: Wasco *32: Shafter *33: McFarland (Battalion 3 HQ) *34: Delano *35: Woody *36: Glennvile *37: Delano West

Battalion 4 - Foothill

Battalion 4 comprises the unincorporated parts of Bakersfield to the East and South. Station 41 in Virginia Colony serves as Battalion 4 HQ. There is also Stations 42,45,51,52 and 53. ;Stations *41: Virginia Colony (Battalion 4 HQ) *42: Niles *45: Edison *51: Lamont *52: Greenfiled *53: Old River

Battalion 5 - Mt. Pinos

Battalion 5 is located in the South and South West portion of the County bordering

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

and

Ventura County Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...

. Included in Battalion 5's coverage area are the cities of Lebec, Frazier Park,

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (french: Lac des Bois, oj, Pikwedina Sagainan) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,5 ...

, Pinion Pines and

Pine Mountain Club Pine Mountain Club is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in southwestern Kern County, California. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,315. It is one of the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass. Geography Pine Mount ...

. Station 55 in Tejon Ranch serves as Battalion 5 HQ and there is also Stations 54,56,57 and 58. ;Stations *54: Arvin *55:

Tejon Ranch Tejon Ranch Company (), based in Lebec, California, is one of the largest private landowners in California. The company was incorporated in 1936 to organize the ownership of a large tract of land that was consolidated from four Mexican land gr ...

(Battalion 5 HQ) *56: Lebec *57: Frazier Park *58: Pine Mountain Club

Battalion 6 - Valley Metro

;Stations *61: Norris *62: Meadows Field *63: Highland *64: River View *65: Greenacres (Battalion 6 HQ) *66: Landco *67: Rosedale

Battalion 7 - Eastern Kern

Battalion 7 is located in the northeast portion of the county. Within the coverage area are the towns of

Havilah Havilah ( ''Ḥăwīlāh'') refers to both a land and people in several books of the Bible; the one mentioned in , while the other is mentioned in . Biblical mentions In one case, Havilah is associated with the Garden of Eden, that mentioned in ...

Lake Isabella Lake Isabella also called Isabella Lake, is a reservoir in Kern County, California, United States created by the earthen Isabella Dam. It was formed in 1953 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Kern River at the junction of its two f ...

, Bodfish, Wofford Heights, Kernville,

Randsburg Randsburg (formerly Rand Camp) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Randsburg is located south of Ridgecrest, at an elevation of . The population was 69 in the 2010 census, down from 77 in the 2000 cens ...

, and incorporated city of

Ridgecrest, California Ridgecrest is a city in Kern County, California, United States, along U.S. Route 395 in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS, or China Lake). It was incorporated as a ...

. ;Stations *71: South Lake (Battalion 7 HQ) *72: Lake Isabella *73: Inyokern *74: Ridgecrest *75: Randsburg *76: Kernville *77: Ridgecrest Heights *78: Piute *79: Alta Sierra (Seasonal)

Rank structure

*Fire Chief & Director of Emergency Services *Chief Deputy *Deputy Chief *Division Chief *Battalion Chief / Fire Marshal / Arson Chief *Captain / Assistant Fire Marshal / Arson Investigator *Engineer *Firefighter

References

{{California fire departments County government agencies in California Fire departments in California Government of Kern County, California