Arizona fire crew to head to California to assist with deadly wildfire

PHOENIX — An Arizona fire crew is heading to California to help battle a devastating wildfire that has killed two and forced thousands of people out of their homes.

The Superstition Fire and Medical District announced Friday that Type 6 Wildland crew, made up of Capts. Dustin Farber and Joe Garcia and firefighter Chris Furgeson, “could spend the next 14 days there.”

#BREAKING Our Type 6 Wildland crew is headed to Calif. to assist with the fires. The crew of Capt. Dustin Farber (Engine Boss), Capt. Joe Garcia and FF Chris Furgeson could spend the next 14 day there. They will be part of a strike team assisting in the S. region. Safe journey! pic.twitter.com/1S8fehvisT

— SFMD (@sfmd_az_gov) July 27, 2018

The crew will be part of a strike team assisting in the southern region.

The so-called Carr Fire has displaced an estimated 37,000 people.

It began Monday and tripled in size overnight Thursday amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and high winds.

Fire officials warned that the blaze would probably burn deeper into urban areas before there was any hope of containing it.

A day earlier, the flames turned the sky orange while sweeping through the historic Gold Rush town of Shasta and nearby Keswick, then jumping the Sacramento River into Redding, a city of about 92,000 people and the largest in the region.

At least 65 structures have been destroyed, and 5,000 other buildings were threatened, fire officials said.

The fire is “taking down everything in its path,” said Scott McLean, a CalFire spokesman for the crews battling the blaze.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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