Some of today's top stories
- Now to an update this morning on the devastating Borel Fire.
CHP reporting Highway 178 is now open in both directions.
But the danger is still far from over.
Borel has scorched more than 57-thousand acres since it started less than a week ago.
And it's only 22-percent contained.
California Governor Gavin Newsom paying first responders a visit yesterday morning to see the devastion of the inferno.
17's Jenny Huh brings us the story. - "Unprecedented."
That's how firefighters described the behavior of the Borel Fire as they called on local leaders to declare it the *largest* wildfire in Kern County history.
The Borel Fire now larger than the Erskine Creek fire that scorched more than 51-thousand acres in 1942...and the more-recent Erskine Fire that incinerated nearly 48-thousand acres in 2016. County supervisors declared the Borel fire a local emergency during their meeting in Bakersfield yesterday.
That paves the way for more state and federal assistance in battling this fire...*and* funding for rebuilding once the fire is out.
Countless people have lost their homes as the inferno punished the Kern River Valley. More than 23-hundred people remain under evacuation orders as of newstime this morning.
Nearly 35-hundred others are under evacuation warnings...with no clear timeline on when those orders will be lifted. - In your 17 crime watch..
We are learning more this morning about a man who died with an apparent gunshot wound after the car he was in crashed into a parked flatbed truck in Lamont. According to the Kern County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to the intersection of Georgetown Avenue and Field Street Monday night around 9:30.
A man found in a sedan had "major injuries" and was declared dead at the scene.
The identity of the victim has not been released at this time.
No arrests had been made and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Kern County Sheriff's Office at 861-3110 or The Kern Secret Witness at 322-4040.
