LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The mission to contain the devastating wildfires in Southern California rages on, and fire agencies across the Inland Northwest are chipping in to join the fight.
For Northern Lakes Fire Protection District, the Hayden-based crews arrived in Los Angeles Friday.
Monday afternoon, crews managed to take a break after a 24-hour shift fighting the Palisades Fire.
“They’re in a steep terrain area that has flashy fuels, a lot of grass and brush that’s been dried out one because of the extreme drought that they’ve been in… They’re in in a neighborhood going through there, and their main job is, right now, is protecting the structures that are standing putting out hot spots,” Deputy Chris Larson, the public information officer for Northern Lakes Fire Protection District, said.
Kootenai County Fire & Rescue (KCFR) also sent one engine and four personnel to Los Angeles.
“They spent 24 hours [Sunday] on the fire line. In fact, they just got off this morning. They’re taking a little break and anticipate being reassigned again. They’re assigned to the Palisades Fire,” KCFR Chief Chris Way said.
Way told NonStop Local that he has not seen a wildfire that brought this level of attention in a long time.
“You can prepare for whatever disaster there is. But when it exceeds your capabilities, and this I think, exceeded their capabilities. That’s not to point fault… We have had incidents that have exceeded our capabilities,” Way said.
But, in times of crisis, both Way and Larson told NonStop Local that the firefighting community bands together.
“It could be next summer when we’re in the position of needing help, and I sure hope that our friends in California would now say ‘Heck, we’d like to go help Idaho out,'” Way said.
The firefighters from Idaho performed a structural protection of approximately 50 homes.
It is unclear, at this point, how long the North Idaho crews will remain in Los Angeles.
