A crew of 20 firefighters, eight of them with the Arkansas Forestry Commission, has been assembled in Arkansas and sent to help fight a wildfire in California.
The firefighters, called the Razorback Crew, flew out of Fort Smith on Monday headed for Santa Barbara County where they will be assigned to fight the Rey Fire north of Santa Barbara in and near the Los Padres National Forest, according to a news release from the forestry commission.
In addition to the forestry commission firefighters, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, the Okmulgee, Okla., Agency and the Wewoka, Okla., Agency also supplied firefighters for the crew, forestry commission spokesman Adriane Barnes said.
The fire had burned nearly 27,100 acres as of Tuesday morning and was about 30 percent contained, according to the Internet site InciWeb Incident Information System. The Razorback Crew will join 1,390 other firefighters.
Qualified forestry commission personnel can make themselves available to assist the U.S. Forest Service fighting wildfires in other states when Arkansas' fire danger is low, the release said.
"Out-of-state assistance is a great way for our firefighters to get new training experience," State Forester Joe Fox said.
As members of the Razorback Crew headed out of the state, 11 other forestry commission employees returned home from assisting the Forest Service in fires in other states, Barnes said. She said they had been sent to California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Texas.
The Rey Fire began Thursday near a day-use picnic area in the national forest, according to InciWeb. The cause was under investigation.
The fire continued to spread Tuesday and campgrounds, recreation areas and a boys camp remained closed.
Hand crews, helicopters, fire engines, bulldozers, water tenders and air tankers were assigned to the fire, according to InciWeb.
State Desk on 08/24/2016