More than 65 fire engines, an area command team and 40 fire “specialists” from the Rocky Mountain region have been sent to California to help battle fires.
Among those firefighters are a four-member team – two firefighters and two paramedics – from Littleton who should arrive in California today.
The Littleton team is driving a Colorado State Forest Service engine to the Lajolla Indian Reservation where they will fight the Poomacha Fire, according to a press release from Littleton Fire Rescue.
The reservation is about ten miles northeast of Escondido.
The California Office of Emergency Management and the California Department of Forestry requested the assistance, Littleton fire officials said.
The team left yesterday and could be in California for up to two weeks, the release said.
The Poomacha fire is about 20 percent contained. It has burned more than 35,000-acres and destroyed 50 homes. Another 2,000 homes are threatened, Littleton fire officials said, in the communities of Valley Center, Rincon, Pauma Valley, Hidden Meadows, Deer Springs, Vista and Palomar.
There are more than 850 firefighters battling the fire and 12 firefighters have been injured.
Joining Colorado firefighters are personnel from departments out of Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota, according to the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center.
“A lot of the local crews have been working non-stop since the fires started and the new engines will provide some relief so they can stand down,” said Glenn Bartter, a RMACC area coordinator, in a press release.
Among the firefighters sent to California are staffers such as aircraft managers, division supervisors and fire behavior specialists.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
