Delaware sending in reinforcements to help California firefighters
Delaware firefighters say the trip will consist of 7 days of driving, 14 days of fighting fires
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A team of firefighters from Delaware is headed to California to help battle the McKinney Fire.
The team of 20 wildland firefighters departed Smyrna’s Blackbird Forest base camp on Tuesday, WDEL-FM reported.
The team has a long road trip ahead of them, Kyle Hoyd with the Delaware Forest Service said.
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"Probably going to be about a 21-day deployment with the time that we’re going to factor in for driving," Hoyd said. "So it will be 14 working days and the rest will be drive time."
The McKinney Fire, which broke out July 29, has consumed about 60,000 acres, according to CalFire.
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The McKinney Fire burns near Yreka, Calif., on July 30, 2022. Delaware firefighters are coming to California to help put out the fire which has been burning for weeks. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
The Delaware team is cross-trained for a number of roles.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We can do everything from doing back burns for burnout operations to tree felling," Hoyd said. "I think this crew, probably more so than any other, is loaded full of what we refer to as fallers, those are the folks that would physically cut the trees."