Cal Fire SLO sends crews to help fight devastating wildfires in Los Angeles
Cal Fire SLO sent reinforcements to support teams battling the wildfires that have burned more than 1,000 homes and killed five people in Los Angeles County.
Cal Fire SLO had sent 50 of its 362 personnel to help fight the 15,832-acre Palisades Fire and the 700-acre Hurst Fire as of Wednesday afternoon, Cal Fire spokesperson Ryan Grebe said.
Reinforcements included two engine strike teams who will assist with evacuations and defend neighborhoods from the encroaching blaze.
Cal Fire SLO also sent one dozer team and three hand crews to Los Angeles to remove fuel from the borders of the fire and prevent it from spreading further, he said.
Some of the teams traveled to Los Angeles on Tuesday between 5 and 6 p.m. The rest left the county early Wednesday morning, Grebe said.
All Cal Fire SLO personnel were on duty on Wednesday to fill in for firefighters sent to Los Angeles, but the agency still doesn’t have enough people to fully staff all of the county’s fire stations and engines.
Cal Fire SLO submitted a request for five replacement fire engines to fill in for firefighters working in Los Angeles, and the agency was waiting for a response as of Wednesday afternoon, Grebe said.
Grebe encouraged San Luis Obispo County residents to practice fire safety — especially while Cal Fire is operating with limited staff.
“We can always have incidents here. We want people to be extra careful about what they’re doing,” he said. “We still have the potential to have a major fire in our county.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 6:01 PM.
