Los Padres Estates Neighbors Wake to Explosions

By Patric Hedlund

Bobbi Newell got up for a few minutes at 5:10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 20, then slipped back into bed. She lit a cigarette during her short trip between the bathroom and the bedroom, and was still holding it when she nodded off to sleep. Newell, who had a pacemaker inserted two weeks ago, was breathing assisted by a canister of oxygen. Several additional tanks and a compressor were stored in the room.

At 5:20 a.m. neighbors throughout the Los Padres Estates area woke to the sound of loud explosions, coming from the home that Newell has rented for eight years. Flames were pouring from the windows of the double wide mobile home.

Captain Kirk Kushen of Lebec’s station #56 said a 911 call came in at 5:23 a.m. for a "fully involved mobile home fire" on Louise Way, off of Lebec Oaks.

Kern County Sheriff’s Deputy David Benson said he was driving up from Bakersfield for his shift at the Frazier Park substation when he was alerted that there was "gunfire" in Los Padres Estates.

Kushen said that when their engine #56 arrived, both residents were outside of the house, "we immediately turned to protection of property and protection of adjoining residences." He confirmed they used about 20,000 gallons of water to "knock down the fire and confine it to the structure of origin." He said "good hydrant flow" helped them do that quickly and that the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

Newell said later that her cigarette had fallen onto the oxygen hose when she fell asleep. Her attempt to smother the fire with towels and blankets was useless. "It just kept burning. I crawled on my hands and knees under the smoke, calling to [roommate Walter Kelley] to get out." The smoke was dense.

Across the street, neighbor Geraline Bahn woke with a start at the explosions. Next door neighbor Gene DeMascio directed garden hose water through the windows that had exploded out of the rear of the house. The DeMascios put another hose on the electrical power pole nearby. "it was amazing how fast it tore through the house," DeMascio said, "it was destroyed in 10 to 20 minutes."

On the east side of the property, another neighbor (who asked to be identified as Brian P.) said he immediately turned off his gas tank valve and trained a water hose onto the tank. Beverly Edwards was on the street in a plaid bathrobe, "what would we do without our firemen?" she asked.

Kushen said responding units were Engine #55 from Tejon Industrial Complex, Engine #57 from Frazier Park and his Engine #56 from Lebec. Kern County Sheriff’s and CHP cruisers were also on the scene.

Newell’s face, hands and clothes were covered with dark soot as she spoke with this reporter, sitting in a car in front of the home. Both she and Kelley refused ambulance assistance offered by Captain Kushen.

The home, its contents and another car in the carport appeared completely destroyed. Newell said she would go to stay with her brother in Frazier Park. Kelley said he planned to stay with a friend.

Alice and Dave Assaly, who manage the "Name Your Price Thrift Store" for the Boys & Girls Club of Frazier Mountain said the two were welcome to come select any clothes or other items they would be needing.

Newell said the owner of the rental house was Mark Hellman, a 7th grade math teacher for El Tejon School.

This is part of the August 24, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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