Garden Fire being corralled

The Garden Fire burning in the Kern River canyon below Lake Isabella has not grown much and was 25 percent contained as of Wednesday morning.

The Garden Fire burning in the Kern River canyon below Lake Isabella has not grown much and was 25 percent contained as of Wednesday morning.

The blaze broke out Sunday and has burned 1,350 acres. More than 450 personnel are on the fire lines. The number of acres burned did not increased since Tuesday.

Highway 178, which had been closed Monday, reopened to all traffic as of 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Firefighters continue to contend with high temperatures, erratic winds, and steep, rugged terrain, necessitating a cautious and methodical approach to line construction. In addition to ground operations, aerial bucket drops continue on the fire. Today’s efforts will focus on direct and indirect line construction, utilizing air assets to slow fire spread.

Anticipating the potential for growth in size or complexity, Southern California Interagency Incident Management Team 2 assumed control of the fire as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, with Kelly Zombro as Incident Commander.

There is a temporary flight restriction in place over the affected area. The public is reminded to refrain from flying unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, in the restricted area.