Nevada agencies send teams to help fight California fires

As wildfires destroy towns and force evacuations in northern and southern California, government agencies in Nevada have sent fire equipment and personnel to help.

At least 25 people have died from the fires, with 23 deaths reported in the north from a blaze that started Thursday outside of Paradise, California, and two deaths reported from the Hill and Woosley fires near Los Angeles, California officials have said.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said Friday on Twitter that Nevada has sent resources to help.

#NV has sent resources to help fight the #CA wildfires. We are praying for all those affected and for the safety of all the first responders.

— Governor Sandoval (@GovSandoval) November 10, 2018

The Southern Nevada office of Bureau of Land Management sent a fire engine and other officials on Friday to help with the blazes, said Zachary Ellinger, a fire mitigation and education specialist for the agency.

The vehicle is one of the bureau’s “bigger wild-land engines” and is fully staffed along with a strike team leader and public information officer to assist California crews, he said.

“It’ll have highly experienced leaders on board,” Ellinger said. “I anticipate they’ll be doing some structure protection.”

The Red Cross also will send a Nevada official to California, Cynthia De La Torre, spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada chapter of the relief organization, said Friday. The Red Cross is sending a volunteer disaster mental health chief from its Reno chapter to Sacramento, about 90 miles south of Paradise, which has been almost completely destroyed by fire.

Ellinger said the BLM’s crews often find themselves in California.

“They have a year-round fire season in California now,” he said.

The Las Vegas Fire Department has not deployed resources to the California fires, said department spokesman Tim Szymanski. The departments in Northern Nevada are typically more equipped to handle forest fires because of the area’s geography, he said.

Since Thursday, the Reno Fire Department has sent crews to both the northern and southern California fires, said fire chief Robert Casos.

The department has sent two staffed engines with a battalion chief to the northern blaze, and another engine to the southern fire. A line safety officer to monitor crews’ safety also was dispatched to Southern California, Casos said.

“As soon as the requests came in they started sending the apparatuses out,” Casos said.

Video from the first night of the #CampFire @RenoFireDept Battalion Chief is with Strike Team 4236C. They were back at it this morning working in Branch 3. Div. N. Providing structure defense. Stay safe! pic.twitter.com/LclEEnigyP

— David Cochran (@ChiefDave_RFD) November 10, 2018

Both the Reno Fire Department and the BLM will typically have crews in California for up to two weeks, but they could stay for three weeks or longer depending on the need.

Casos said the Reno department won’t be able to send any additional engines because it must ensure it’s covered in case a fire breaks out in Northern Nevada.

“It’s entirely possible that we could have a similar problem here,” he said.

Like the Southern Nevada BLM, the Reno Fire Department frequently sends crews to California, Casos said. The state’s fire season used to slow around September but now lasts longer.

“The fires in California are year-round, so our guys have been called out the past couple of years during the holidays,” Casos said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.