Northern California, Arizona firefighters deployed to assist with trio of Southern California fires
Firefighting crews from Northern California and Arizona have been deployed to assist with the trio of devastating wildfires currently raging in Southern California.
Within the span of 12 hours on Tuesday, Los Angeles County saw three wildfires erupt, each quickly growing to engulf hundreds of acres and threaten homes and lives. Local fire departments have seen their own resources stretched incredibly thin, to the point that Los Angeles Fire Department asked all off-duty firefighters to report if they were able to assist with the ongoing battles happening countywide.
As a result, crews from both Alameda County in Northern California and the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management were dispatched to assist as each fire burned without containment come early Wednesday morning.
Along with Alameda County, a California Office of Emergency Services Strike Team will also join the Oakland, Hayward Fire and Fremont Fire Departments as they head south. Late Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X that more than 1,400 firefighting personnel and other prepositioned assets were en route to Los Angeles.
CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO-TV has confirmed that the team heading west from Arizona "comprises nine fire engines, two water tenders, and two task force leaders."
The additional help will inevitably ease the immense pressure being placed on local departments, which are without their water-dropping aircraft, all that have been unable to fly due to the winds battering LA County.
The three fires, dubbed the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst Fires — burning in the Pacific Palisades near Malibu, San Fernando Valley and the canyons above Altadena, respectively — are all happening in the midst of one of the worst and most powerful windstorms that the region has seen in more than a decade, according to the National Weather Service.
California has secured FEMA assistance through the Fire Management Assistance Grant for all three of the fires, as thousands of homes and acres were threatened by flames. The grants allow for local departments to apply for up to 75% reimbursement for expenses used to fight the fires.