--- title: California Wildfire Kills Two People in Kern County description: At least two people have died in a wildfire that has consumed 19,000 acres in Southern California canonical: https://time.com/4382568/california-fire-deaths/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-24T21:13:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:51:11.498Z article:section: Science og:title: Raging Fire Kills 2 People in Southern California og:description: At least two people have died in a wildfire that has consumed 19,000 acres in Southern California og:url: https://time.com/4382568/california-fire-deaths/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt369f9fa5317c7354/69889966cd1bba63a47013f0/lake-isabella-wildfires.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Alan Germain og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Raging Fire Kills 2 People in Southern California twitter:description: At least two people have died in a wildfire that has consumed 19,000 acres in Southern California twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt369f9fa5317c7354/69889966cd1bba63a47013f0/lake-isabella-wildfires.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Raging Fire Kills 2 People in Southern California  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 24, 2016 9:13 PM UTC  Alan Germain puts out hotspots on his neighbor's property destroyed by a wildfire near Lake Isabella, Calif., on June 24, 2016. Alan Germain puts out hotspots on his neighbor's property destroyed by a wildfire near Lake Isabella, Calif., on June 24, 2016.Jae C. Hong—AP  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 24, 2016 9:13 PM UTC At least two people have died in a wildfire that has consumed 19,000 acres in souther California, [local authorities said Friday](https://www.facebook.com/kerncountyfire/). The fast moving fire—located near Lake Isabella in Kern County—has destroyed 100 homes since it began Thursday afternoon, with another 1,500 threatened. A total of 800 emergency responders were on the scene with more en route, according to a state [emergency response site](http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4806/). The fire was 0% contained, according the county. Wildfires have [increased in frequency](http://time.com/3959260/climate-change-wildfires/) and severity in recent years as a result of climate change, and governments have struggled to fund efforts to fight them. California has been [particularly hard hit](http://time.com/3849320/california-drought-wildfires/) as a result of its ongoing [drought](http://time.com/3621246/california-drought-study/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4382568/california-fire-deaths/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4382568/california-fire-deaths/"},"headline":"Raging Fire Kills 2 People in Southern California","datePublished":"2016-06-24T21:13:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:51:11.498Z","description":"Wildfires have increased in frequency and severity in recent years","url":"https://time.com/4382568/california-fire-deaths/","keywords":["Disasters"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt369f9fa5317c7354/69889966cd1bba63a47013f0/lake-isabella-wildfires.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt369f9fa5317c7354/69889966cd1bba63a47013f0/lake-isabella-wildfires.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Alan Germain","caption":"Alan Germain puts out hotspots on his neighbor's property destroyed by a wildfire Friday, June 24, 2016, near Lake Isabella, Calif. 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