Bakersfield Fire From Derailed Train Out, Evacuations Over

KEENE – Authorities in central California say a stubborn fire sparked by a derailed freight train is out and evacuation orders for several homes clouded in black smoke have been lifted.

Kern County Fire Department spokesman Justin Corley says firefighters finally doused the blaze south of the town of Keene Sunday night nearly 24 hours after it started, and residents of about seven homes that had been evacuated have been told they can safely return.

Two cars from the long freight train derailed Saturday night at a tunnel entrance on the Tehachapi Loop 15 miles east of Bakersfield.

Dorley says train cars carrying alcohol, plastic pellets and cornmeal caught fire, and the blaze spread into the tunnel, making it very difficult to put out.