Four Oakland firefighters departed the Bay Area on Thursday to help put out the Bootleg Fire in Oregon, fire officials said.
The fire as of Friday evening had burned nearly 39,000 acres in the Fremont-Winema National Forest and doubled in size in one day. The fire has forced people from their homes and was zero percent contained.
Oakland firefighters will support the response by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to the fire that is burning in Klamath County.
“In addition to fulfilling our mission here in Oakland, our department aims to always be prepared to offer highly skilled personnel to assist in response to disasters in California and throughout the United States,” Oakland Fire Chief Reginald Freeman said in a statement.
Firefighters from Oakland, Fremont, Hayward, Alameda County, South San Francisco, San Bruno, and other Bay Area jurisdictions were sent to Oregon as part of two strike teams to help extinguish the blaze.
The strike teams will be operating Type 3 and Type 6 engines, which are the most common engines used to put out wildland-urban interface fires. The engines are known for their ability to maneuver and their off-road capabilities, according to fire officials.