Arizona firefighters head to California to fight Woolsey, Camp and Hill fires
Nov 10, 2018, 12:17 PM
Park Billow, 27, sprays water on the hot spots in his backyard as the Woolsey Fire burns in Malibu, Calif., Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. Authorities announced Friday that a quarter of a million people are under evacuation orders as wind-whipped flames rage through scenic areas west of Los Angeles and burn toward the sea. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
(AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
PHOENIX — Rampant wildfires in California have prompted the Department of Forestry and Fire Management of Arizona to deploy 144 firefighters and 42 engines to help contain the blazes.
The firefighters are on a minimum 14-day assignment where they will be asked to perform tasks including wildfire suppression, acting as backfill for local fire departments and staging for new fire starts if winds alter the fire growth patterns.
According to a release, crews from across the state of Arizona have been sent, including crews from the Daisy Mountain, Desert Hills, Eloy, Glendale, Jerome, Nogales, Peoria, Superstition, and Surprise fire departments.
Crews were already assisting efforts to put out the Woolsey Fire, which has burned 70,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The entire town of Malibu was evacuated due to the threat of the fire.
The Woolsley Fire was one of three burning wildfires in the state along with the Camp Fire in northern California, which burned the entire town of Paradise. The Camp Fire had swelled to 100,000 acres as of Saturday morning.
The Hill fire was 25 percent contained as of Saturday morning, but had grown to 4,500 acres.
Across the state, more than 250,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in a dramatic scene, which saw some flee from their cars on foot to escape the flames. More than 7,000 structures had been destroyed and 9 people were confirmed dead due to the fires.
