COLUMBUS, Ohio — With wildfires once again threatening the West Coast, Ohio crews are helping battle the fires.
The fires have forced evacuations in numerous areas with scattered homes and tiny communities, where some burned houses and other structures have been observed but total losses were still being tallied Monday.
The two largest fires are burning forests in northeastern California and southern Oregon, sending smoke across other states.
Among the crews battling the fires are three Ohio firefighters and one state engine out in northern California. The area has been experiencing a heat wave in recent weeks, and Ohio firefighter Nathan Jester said the environment isn’t improving.
“The conditions out here are definitely getting hotter and drier, so I feel like our participation out here will definitely be needed,” Jester said.
Jester, who has been a firefighter for 18 years, specializes in outdoor fires. He explained that although crews from different areas are helping out, they all communicate under the same system called the Incident Command System.
“We can go anywhere in the country and use those same techniques so that we can all work together,” Jester said.
For now, the Ohio firefighters are out there for two weeks, but it could be longer depending on the conditions.
The National Weather Service said that the heat wave appeared to have peaked in many areas, and excessive-heat warnings were largely expected to expire by Monday night or Tuesday.
Evacuation orders were in effect for more than 3,000 residents of remote areas of California’s Lassen and Plumas counties and Nevada’s Washoe County. In Oregon, more than 1,900 homes were within the current evacuation zone as of Monday, according to officials.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
