ERSKINE FIRE FRIDAY EVENING

Officials updated the Erskine Fire late Friday.Two people were killed trying to escape the fire. An elderly couple were found Friday afternoon by a deputy on McCray Road in Squirrel Valley, an area that had been evacuated well ahead of the flames. Sheriff Donny Youngblood said they would be using cadaver dogs to search the rubble of burned homes in case their are more victims.

69 patients from Kern Valley Hospital were transported by ambulance to several Bakersfield hospitals after the facility lost power. Southern California Edison had convoys of crews arriving to begin the process of restoring power after countless power poles were burned down.

At last report, the Erskine fire that started at 4:00PM Thursday had grown to an estimated 30,000 acres, destroyed 100 buildings, 80 of them homes. There was no estimate on how many people had been told to evacuate in several communities. The most recent area to come under the gun of the fire was Kelso Valley which saw the fire reach the ridge above them. The conditions causing the explosion of the fire was plentiful dry grasses, hot conditions and lots of wind.

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