Kirkland Firefighters Deploy To Help California Wildfire Response

Kirkland WA

25 August, 2020

3:25 PM

Description

KIRKLAND, WA — A team of Kirkland firefighters is lending a hand in Northern California, where several major wildfires continue to burn over hundreds of thousands of acres. Right now, Kirkland's team is based at the Sonoma County Fairground in Santa Rosa, to the west of where the LNU Lightning Complex Fires have burned more than 350,000 acres, killing five and destroying nearly 1,000 structures. According to Cal Fire, at least 30,500 buildings are still at-risk. Estimated containment grew slightly overnight, reaching 27 percent Tuesday morning. Our firefighters are currently based at the Sonoma County Fairground & are working 24-30 hr rotations (with 24 hr rests in between). They are currently helping to ensure people have evacuated, & staffing lookouts to make sure other crews are safe when attacking the fire. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/0UzHK6vSxU— Kirkland, Washington (@kirklandgov) August 24, 2020 Thousands in Northern California remain under evacuation orders, and more than 1.25 million acres have burned across the state since Aug. 15. City officials said Kirkland's firefighters are proud to be helping and grateful to be "a small part of the puzzle" to help save lives. Lt. Riedl, FF Shaeffer, Hall & McDougall all miss family, but are proud to be helping. They say the fires are dynamic & challenging, & they are grateful to be a small part of the puzzle to get the fires under control & save lives & property.#kirklandfire #CaliforniaWildFire (2/2) pic.twitter.com/BWnHrWwp7Z— Kirkland, Washington (@kirklandgov) August 24, 2020 Related Coverage: LNU Lightning Complex: Fires Grow Overnight; 27% Containment Fairgrounds Step Up As Base Camp For LNU Lightning Firefighters