Exhausted firefighters get some well-deserved rest in viral photo

For weeks now, thousands of firefighters have battled the Thomas Fire — which at 272,200 acres is now the second largest in modern California history — across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. That fight has taken its toll.

A photo posted on Facebook on Monday, that has since gone viral, shows several firefighters sleeping during a break from cutting a break line above Westmont College, a Christian liberal arts college in Montecito.

Michele Newell, the woman who posted the photo taken by Edgar Sanchez, wrote that her son Dylan Newell once had a promising college baseball career at the school that was cut short by injury; Dylan was among the Kern County firefighters pictured resting after working to protect the school.

“In case you doubt it - God certainly had a plan,” Michele Newell wrote.

She wrote that, at the time of the photo, her son was fighting the flu as well as the Thomas Fire.

Since posting, the photo has garnered 639 comments, 1,800 shares and more than 3,800 reactions.

The Thomas Fire is 60 percent contained, with Cal Fire estimating full containment by early January.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 9:09 AM with the headline "Exhausted firefighters get some well-deserved rest in viral photo."