For hospital staff and patients, Kern County fire was too close for comfort

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A religious icon stands in the charred remains of a neighborhood in South Lake.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Bill Johnson found the bodies of neighbors Byron McKaig, 81, and his wife, Gladys, 90, against a corner of their fence. They didn t deserve it, he said.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Garden decor is all that remains of a residence in South Lake.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Charred trees line a street in a fire-ravahed section of South Lake.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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An employee of a gas supplier drives through a charred neighborhood in South Lake in search of propane tanks to remove.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A burned truck is framed by a charred car port in South Lake.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A burned-out car is one of the few recognizable items amid the charred debris where Byron and Gladys McKaig s home once stood. The McKaigs are the two confirmed casualties of the worst wildfire so far this year in California.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Resident Dan Mayfield holds onto his daughter’s burned bed frame in the ashes of their home which burned in the Erskine Fire n Squirrel Mountain Valley.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Resident Christina Mayfield,left, is consoled by neighbors Kathy and Jerry McDaniel after her home burned in the Erskine Fire in Squirrel Mountain Valley. The McDaniel’s home also burned a couple blocks away.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Resident Christina Mayfield describes the fire as it came towards her “like a tornado.” She fled with only a photo album.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Tyra Rene Fuller tears up a she finds a porcelain cast of her daughter’s handprint while soring through what’s left of her belongings after her home was destroyed by the Erskine fire in Lake Isabella, Calif.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Tyra Rene Fuller sorts through what’s left of her belongings after her home in Lake Isabella’s South Lake neighborhood was destroyed by the Erskine fire.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Brittany Olivia Thompson and Aquivo Sun embrace each other as they say goodbye to their home after finishing their search through rubble of their burned down home, in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Brittany Olivia Thompson, from left, recovers Aquivo Sun’s burned antique rifles in the debris of their home which was destroyed by the wildfire, in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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James Hoover of South Lake hung this American flag on his burnt-out property as a symbol of hope for his neighbors. His home of 17 years was destroyed by the Erskine fire.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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James Hoover of South Lake, left, is consoled by friend David Keith at the charred ruins of Hoover’s home of 17 years.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Investigators and a cadaver dog from Santa Clarita search through the rubble of a burned home in the Squirrel Mountain Valley.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Power crews work to restore power lines and poles destroyed by the Erskine fire in the South Lake neighborhood.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A frame is all that remains of an RV destroyed by the Erskine fire in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A singed page from a flower book lies among the burned rubble of a destroyed home in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters from Bakersfield mop up hot spots on Sunday in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella that was destroyed by wildfire.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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A child’s play table sits near the ruins of a home destroyed by the Erskine fire, in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters from Bakersfield hose down hot spots left in the ruins of a Lake Isabella neighborhood on Sunday.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Deacon Thomas Hunter begins the service where parishioners prayed in a moment of silence for the elderly couple that was killed in the Erskine fire during church services at St. Peters Anglican Church on June 26, 2016 in Kernville. The elderly couple were parishioners at the small congregation.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Burned rubble is all that remains of the residence at the Erskine fire in Squirrel Mountain Valley.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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The Erskine fire burns behind a house east of Lake Isabella on Saturday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Chris Myers, left, helps a family member recover a family heirloom among the rubble of a home in the South Lake neighborhood of Lake Isabella on Saturday.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Kern County coroner personnel carry out human remains found in the burned rubble of a residence off Fiddleneck Street in South Lake.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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South Lake residents Sandy Lake, 63, and her son-in-law Chris Myers, 37, try to salvage items from Lake’s mobile home, which burned in the Erskine fire. “I was just devastated,” Lake said.

(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)

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Carl Conklin of South Lake hopes to find some valuables from his burned home. He said he barely made it out in time Friday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Entire neighborhoods have been leveled by the Erskine fire. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Sean Traba of Newport Beach fishes on the north side of Lake Isabella as a giant plume from the Erskine fire grows in the background.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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The melted and burned frame of an 18-wheeler truck sits on the side of Kelso Valley Road in Weldon.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Information officer Mark Savage briefs Kernville residents at an evacuation center.

(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)

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A fireman fights to contain the Kern County wildfire.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Buildings are consumed by the Kern County wildfire.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Trees still smolder Saturday morning on a ranch which was destroyed by the Erskine Fire in Weldon.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Properties still smolder Saturday morning after the Erskine Fire in Weldon.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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The melted and burned frame of an 18-wheeler truck sits on the side of Kelso Valley Road as the smoke from the Erskine Fire is visible in the background in Weldon.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Rows of burned Joshua tress line the landscape as the head of the Erskine Fire burns in the background Saturday morning in Weldon, Calif.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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The sun sets as smoke fills the air looking west toward Lake Isabella.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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A car along Kelso Valley Road east of Lake Isabella burns during the Esrkine fire Friday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Lt. Kyle Newton of the Tulare County Fire Department waters down the ashes of a home on Seclusion Road at Wildwood that was destroyed by the Erskine fire.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Debris at a home on McCray Road where two bodies were found after it was destroyed by the Erskine Fire.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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A house along Kelso Valley Road east of Lake Isabella burns during the Esrkine fire Friday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Residents Nelson Hernandez and his wife Michelle watch a neighbor’s house burn along Kelso Valley Road east of Lake Isabella during the Esrkine fire Friday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Residents Sal Blanco, left, and Nelson Hernandez watch a neighbor’s house burn along Kelso Valley Road east of Lake Isabella during the Esrkine fire Friday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Alex Thurman, 20, wanders along South Kelso Valley Road, checking on neighboring homes as they are engulfed in flames, in Weldon, Calif.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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A trailer is engulfed by flames, on South Kelso Valley Road, in Weldon, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Fire engulfs homes along South Kelso Valley Road, in Weldon, Calif., on June 24, 2016.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Lt. Kyle Newton from Tulare County Fire waters down smoke rising from a home on Seclusion Road that was destroyed by flames in the Erskine Fire.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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The wildfire still rages on in the mountains after it tore through a South Lake neighborhood in Lake Isabella.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Robert Larsen, a fire evacuee, takes a nap at Kernville Elementary School.

(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)

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Fire burns in the mountains far behind a home on Sagebrush Road destroyed in the Erskine Fire.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Louis Reyes comforts his wife Kimberly Tieche outside of Kernville Elementary School after hearing that their house had burned down in the Erskine Fire.

(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)

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The wildfire still rages on in the mountains after it tore through a South Lake neighborhood in Lake Isabella.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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The aftermath of a wildfire destroying a South Lake neighborhood in Lake Isabella.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Fire burns in the mountains far behind a home on Sagebrush Road destroyed in the Erskine Fire.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Susan DeFussi, is comforted by her partner, Mike Cargill, at the Red Cross evacuation Center in Kernville Friday. DeFussi and Cargill had to run for their lives and lost their home in the Cooks Peak area of Squirrel Valley to the raging Erskine fire.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Evacuee Jan Ryan looks at wounds left from evacuating her dogs as she joins other evacuees at the Red Cross evacuation Center in Kernville Friday.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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The aftermath of the Erskine fire after it tore through the Squirrel Mountain Valley neighborhood in Lake Isabella, Calif.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Still smoldering, smoke rises from a destroyed stucture after the Erskine fire after it tore through the Squirrel Mountain Valley neighborhood in Lake Isabella, Calif.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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The aftermath of the Erskine Wildfire after it tore through the Squirrel Mountain Valley neighborhood in Lake Isabella, Calif.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters from Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit pay close attention to a wildfire moving in from every direction in Kelso Valley as the blaze progresses east with the winds near Lake Isabella, Calif.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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A charred landscape is left after the Erskine fire tore through the Squirrel Mountain neighborhood in Lake Isabella, Calif., on Friday, June 24.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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A Kern County firefighter tries to extinguish as much flame as possible inside a burning tree trunk as strong winds blow through Squirrel Mountain Valley, in Lake Isabella, Calif.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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The Black Eagles fire crew from Porterville lights a backfire in Lake Isabella, Calif.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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A wildfire engulfs the mountains above Lake Isabella, Calif.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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The remains of a car smolder after the Erskine fire rages by Lake Isabella in Kern County.

(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)

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Engine 74 firefighter Adam Lind, 24, watches as the Erskine fire rages by Lake Isabella.

(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)

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The Erskine fire rages in the mountains in Kern County.

(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)

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A Kern County firefighter monitors the blaze as it creeps near a Lake Isabella neighborhood.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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Don Erwin, left, and Jim Griffin take a break as they help create a fire break outside their neighbor’s home in Lake Isabella.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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A home is destroyed by wildfire in Lake Isabella.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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A firefighter controls the flames before they reach homes in Lake Isabella.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

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A home is destroyed by wildfire in Lake Isabella on Thursday.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

By Nina Agrawal

June 23, 2016 11:45 PM PT

Bob Easterday was cutting a fire break behind his house close to where the Erskine fire started Thursday afternoon when he got a call to hurry over to the Kern Valley Hospital, where he works as the facilities director.

“The smoke was so thick that you could barely see,” Easterday said by telephone late Thursday. He immediately shut off the air conditioning to keep from pulling the smoke into the hospital.

“There was absolutely not time” to evacuate, Easterday said, despite orders to do so from fire officials.

Hospital executives decided to shelter in place, moving the 69 patients in the hospital’s skilled nursing facility into the cafeteria, a more central area that was less exposed to the hospital’s outer walls. The 10 patients in the hospital’s acute-care area stayed put.

“We do drill for this stuff,” said hospital CEO Timothy McGlew. “We just keep everybody calm and focused on the patients.”

That didn’t mean patients weren’t apprehensive.

“They were nervous,” Easterday said. “We had a lot of staff with them. We had a lot of damp washcloths they could put over their faces. We set up fans.”

Within minutes, Easterday said, he could see 10-foot flames at the hospital’s doorstep.

“My maintenance guys were fighting the fire with hoses,” he said, because firefighters just couldn’t keep up as the fire leapfrogged terrain.

The fire was burning so fast, “it literally blew right past the hospital,” McGlew said. “The only thing I can call it is a miracle.”

No hospital structures were damaged and nobody was injured, as far as McGlew and Easterday were aware.

Flames were no longer visible around the hospital late Thursday, though firefighters were dealing with intermittent flare-ups. Residents of the skilled nursing facility had already been moved back to their rooms.

But not everything was back to normal.

Power was out, and the hospital was operating on generators. The hospital had enough energy for essential services, Easterday said, but “every third light in the hallway is out, that kind of thing. It just makes it a bit challenging to continue care.”

AT&T cell service had also gone out, making it difficult for hospital staff to communicate with first responders and prompting worries among staff and patients as they couldn’t get in touch with loved ones.

“I do not know if my house is still standing,” Easterday said. “I haven’t been able to get in touch with my wife.”

As he spoke, he was handed a note saying that his wife had called and was at the Kern Valley High School, which had been opened as an evacuation center. But there was no word about his house.

For hospital staff and patients, Kern County fire was too close for comfort

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