Fire chief says Jan. 23 methane leak north of Wasco prompted county evacuation; council presses for clearer multilingual alerts

Kern County Fire Chief Appleton told the Wasco City Council on Feb. 3 that a Jan. 23 methane and hydrogen sulfide release north of the city produced a wellhead fire that required evacuation and hazmat response.

"We went out there and evacuated the area," Chief Appleton said, describing coordination with the sheriff's office, hazmat teams and the company that shut down the well. He said new infrared‑capable drones helped response and that no one was injured; damage was limited to the wellhead and a truck.

Council members and residents described widespread confusion about who needed to evacuate and noted that initial notices circulated via social media were only in English. "The information that I saw was only in English. And that's a big big problem because we have many Spanish speaking residents," a council member said, urging staff to work with county partners on clearer bilingual messaging.

Chief Appleton acknowledged the concern, said the sheriff controls evacuations in unincorporated county incidents and that official county messages are sent to affected zones; he advised residents to sign up for ReadyKern (readykern.gov) and recommended the Genesys Protect app to view evacuation zones on a map.

Council asked staff to follow up with additional information about opt‑in systems and to coordinate language access and clearer geographic language in future notices. No formal policy action was taken at the meeting; staff said they would circulate more information and continue interagency coordination.