LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Firefighters from southern Nevada are in southern California battling the historic wildfires fires. A team with Henderson firefighters got down to the West LA area early Thursday morning and by the evening were battling the most destructive fire in LA history, the Palisades Fire, which also could be the costliest in US history.
Video shared with FOX5 shows a Henderson fire engine outside a burning California home. A house fire is not unusual for the Nevada crew, but an entire community leveled by a firestorm is unprecedented for any firefighter.
“This is unreal,” said Henderson Battalion Chief Matt Truax in a call with FOX5 Friday. Truax says in his 25 years as a firefighter, he has never seen anything like this.
“The number of homes, you’d see 5-6 homes in a row that are destroyed…There are cars just burned out throughout all of the streets. It is horrible to feel, like what those people lost. Nothing left to some of those homes,” Truax described.
The Henderson crews is patrolling a Palisades neighborhood for spot fires now working 24 hours shifts. Their temporary home between those shifts is a Cal Fire base camp set up on Zuma Beach.
“Cal Fire sets up a very large camp and a lot of people show up from all over,” Truax explained. Not only are southern Nevada crews fighting the Palisades Fire near the ocean, they are also fighting the Eaton Fire near Pasadena. Another video shared with FOX5 at the iconic Rose Bowl shows how it has become a staging area for thousands of firefighters. With multiple fires burning across LA County, Californians are glad Nevada firefighters are there.
“They’re driving by, honking, waving, giving us thumbs up wherever we go,” Truax recounted. No one is happier to see the reinforcements then the local firefighters.
“They’re amazed that we were assigned this fire from Nevada and we’re here to help,” Truax revealed. They will need all the help they can get. The Santa Ana winds are forecast to return Monday.
“Just understand how strong those winds are. Winds that are over 60 mph that are uprooting trees, it is unbelievable,” Truax shared.
A total of 46 personnel from the Las Vegas Valley fire departments, including the Clark County Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue and Henderson Fire Department are providing support and resources.
The anticipated length of deployment is one to two weeks. Gov. Lombardo has mobilized firefighters from across the state to help California under a mutual aid agreement.
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