Kitsap firefighters head to Southern California to fight raging wildfires

October 28, 2019 12:30 pm
A five-engine strike team with crews from East Jefferson Fire Rescue, Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue, the Bainbridge Island Fire Department, Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue, and North Kitsap Fire & Rescue left to help fight the massive fire in Souther California early Monday. (Photo courtesy of the Bainbridge Island Fire Department)
A five-engine strike team with crews from East Jefferson Fire Rescue, Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue, the Bainbridge Island Fire Department, Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue, and North Kitsap Fire & Rescue left to help fight the massive fire in Souther California early Monday. (Photo courtesy of the Bainbridge Island Fire Department)

Firefighters from across Kitsap County, including Bainbridge Island, left early Monday to join the massive firefight in Southern California.

Kitsap crew members are part of a five-engine strike team that also includes crews from East Jefferson Fire Rescue, Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue, the Bainbridge Island Fire Department, Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue, and North Kitsap Fire & Rescue.

NBC News reported Monday that more than 500 acres of a Los Angeles hillside was on fire, threatening a major commuter thoroughfare and the Getty Center museum. More than 500 area firefighters there are fighting the flames in order to save about 10,000 homes and businesses.

The brush fire also caused a partial closure of Interstate 405, a congested transportation corridor that connects the San Fernando Valley and other northern suburbs to West Los Angeles.

Officials with the Bainbridge Island Fire Department said three members of the Bainbridge department left Monday morning to join the five-engine team traveling to California.