FRAZIER PARK, Calif. -- Fire officials say oily rags left on the deck of a home that ignited caused a devastating house fire Sunday morning.

The blaze on Idaho Trail caused $400,000 in damage, but the resident at the home was able to escape the home unharmed.

The oily rags, which were doused with wood stainer, had a chemical reaction with the open air, causing the rags to ignite and set the house ablaze, according to Capt. Chris Stroub of the Kern County Fire Department.

Fires caused by oily rags are rare, but do happen, and should serve as a reminder to take extra precautions.

"With any kind of staining, go ahead and make sure that you put [the rags] in some kind of metal container and cover that container up so they don't have the free air to have a chemical reaction and then a fire starts," he said.

Fire crews also had difficulty navigating the dirt trails around the home as well as finding the nearest fire hydrant, which was on the neighboring trail.

Around 30 fire personnel from Kern and Los Angeles counties and the Forest Service teamed up to put out the blaze. The first crew, a two-person company from Frazier Park, had to wait several minutes for reinforcements before they could pursue structure protection from inside the home.

"If we have a fire, and there's only two guys on duty, they're not going to be able to go inside the structure until two more people show up to basically provide their safety valve," said Dep. Chief Mike Cody, referring to the federal "two-in, two-out policy" for structure fires.

Until the county's budget cuts in July, the KCFD was in the unprecedented position of having three-person crews at every fire station in the county.

In a house fire, that can make a big difference.

"A third man in that situation definitely helps," Stroub says. "Structure fires are definitely intense and are really hard work, especially in the initial couple of minutes."

Because of budget cuts, the department had to leave 27 firefighter positions unfilled, putting additional strain on the fire crews on-duty. Nine fire stations across the rural areas of Kern County are currently operating with two-person crews.

"When we have to do it with less people, it makes our jobs extremely difficult, and puts added pressure on managers to worry and wonder if things are going to go okay," Cody said.