NM firefighters return from California fires
Woolsey Fire was 94% contained when they got home Monday
Firefighters from around New Mexico, including Albuquerque and Bernalillo, teamed up to help fight the deadly wildfires in California.
Albuquerque Fire Rescue Lt. Brian Fox led the 24 member team from New Mexico, which was dispatched to the Woolsey Fire near Malibu. The fire has killed at least two people and destroyed nearly 1,500 structures. The Camp Fire, in northern California, has killed nearly 80 people so far.
“It’s always in the back of your head, the loss of life,” Fox said.
The New Mexican firefighters were requested on Nov. 8. California firefighting resources are taxed from the two massive fires on opposite ends of the state.
“They are tired,” Fox said of California firefighters. “Some of those guys, their own homes have burned down and they are out there doing what they need to do for the public.”
In addition to five firefighters from Albuquerque, Angel Fire, Corrales, Los Alamos, Sandoval and Bernalillo counties also sent personnel to California.
Fox said they slept in tents and woke up at 6 a.m. every day to get their objectives. The Woolsey Fire is almost 100,000 acres, or more than 150 square miles. It was 94 percent contained on Monday when the New Mexico crew returned home.
He said the New Mexico firefighters helped Malibu residents by offering them use of the crew’s satellite phone so they could contact family members.
“You always try to put yourselves in their shoes,” Fox said. “That’s kind of what stands out to me the most. Something as simple as that. It was something simple that we did to comfort them and their families.”