California Team 7 has been sent to eastern Washington state, where wildfires have destroyed hundreds of buildings and forced thousands of people to evacuate over the weekend.
The specialized emergency response unit is made up of local, state and federal personnel, and a deputy chief with the Santa Monica Fire Department is one of the incident commanders part of the team.
As of Sunday evening, the three fires — now known as the “Spokane Complex Fire” — have burned more than 5,000 acres, with 0% containment, according to a federal incident management team. Officials say at least 600 buildings have been destroyed.
The mayor of the city of Spokane, Washington, said the wind could make the firefight more difficult.
Two of the federal interagency incident management teams helping are based in California: Team 4 and 7. The Los Angeles County Fire Department said it also has crews on standby.
“They train year-round for this,” LA County Fire spokesperson Pauline McGee said. “They’re familiar with steep terrains, weather conditions, you know, whatever comes their way. We’re trained for any given situation.”
McGee said the department’s response includes its urban search and rescue team USA-2, which recently returned home after a deployment to Venezuela following the powerful back-to-back earthquakes in June.
“Our team is equipped with going through various situations to ensure that they help assist by suppressing those fires, wherever they are called to go,” McGee said.
