Fire departments from all corners of the Bay Area have deployed hundreds of personnel, along with engines, trucks, water tenders and other resources in recent days to help battle massive fires in Los Angeles County.
The local crews are joining a force of more than 7,500 emergency personnel fighting the blazes, according to CalFire.
Fueled by strong Santa Ana winds earlier in the week, the two largest blazes — the Palisades and Eaton fires — have burned nearly 30,000 acres since Tuesday morning.
Fire officials said at least five people have died, an estimated 10,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, and thousands have been forced to flee their homes.
Departments across San Mateo County have deployed more than 150 personnel along with about two dozen engines and a drone to help fight the massive fires ravaging Los Angeles County, county officials said Thursday.
“We sent one engine on the first strike team. The order came in at 8 p.m. on the 7th and they left at 10 p.m. on the 7th,” said Pat Murphy, a battalion chief with San Mateo County’s Central County Fire Authority, which serves Burlingame, Hillsborough and Millbrae.
The crews made it to Los Angeles in time for the morning briefing and then worked a 24-hour shift at the Palisades blaze, Murphy said.
On Wednesday morning, the San Francisco Fire Department sent a strike team of 22 firefighters to the Palisades Fire, and later in the day sent nine more firefighters in smaller firefighting pickup trucks that can maneuver in tight spaces.
Napa, Contra Costa and Alameda counties have also sent equipment and crews, along with several city departments that include Santa Rosa, Oakland, Hayward, Fremont and San Jose.
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