As Los Angeles faces one of the worst wildfire disasters in California history, Coronado is helping out in a small way.
At 2 a.m. on Jan. 7, Coronado Fire Chief Jayson Summers sent four firefighters into the fire zone as part of a strike team, joining crews from San Diego, Poway, National City and Chula Vista. The battalion chief of Poway has also deployed with the firefighters.
The call for help came just as the Palisades Fire started on Tuesday morning. With notorious Santa Ana winds blowing, Summers said somberly, “incident commanders that were in charge up there, they just requested, you know, the world.”
Summers said the Coronado crew joined other teams along Pacific Coast Highway and then off Sunset Boulevard in Topanga Canyon. “They’ve been working really hard with minimal rest,” he added.
As of Jan. 13, four major wildfires and two smaller blazes had charred sections of Los Angeles County. The one in Pacific Palisades is biggest, covering 36 square miles with only 14% containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
A total of 24 people have died across L.A. as of Jan. 12.
The firefighters from Coronado are working structure protection, trying to save homes, Summers said. “(The incident commanders) say, ‘Just go. Go do something. Go save something.’ It’s very organized chaos.”
As of Jan. 10, an estimated 12,000 houses, businesses, and other structures have been damaged or destroyed, according to the Associated Press.
Summers said he has no idea how long his firefighters will be out there, but expects to swap the current crew with a fresh team around day 12.
In cases like this, Summers said, the state reimburses Coronado for all costs – fuel, food, hotels, salaries.
Summers said that he’s heard from community members offering assistance, but victims in L.A. are the ones needing help, not the firefighters.
He suggested donations to the Red Cross as “a good start.”
