Pasadena Fire Dept. Units Rollout on Strike Teams Across California as Fires Erupt Across State

Pasadena’s Fire Department has sent units and personnel to respond to both the Tick Fire in the Sand Canyon area of Santa Clarita and the Kincade Fire in Northern California.

The fire department deployed a total of 11 personnel, a strike team leader, two fire engines, and one water tender as part of the response, Pasadena Spokesperson Lisa Derderian said.

In fact, Pasadena Fire Engine 34 and Engine 37 and a Pasadena battalion chief who’s leader of a strike team have been reassigned from the Tick Fire, which authorities said was 65 percent contained as of Sunday morning, to the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County north of the San Francisco Bay Area.

An update released Sunday by the Los Angeles County Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Department said the Tick Fire had burned through a total of 4,615 acres and destroyed 22 structures; it has also damaged another 27 structures.

Derderian said the redeployed Pasadena Fire Department personnel and resources were expected to be in the incident base camp at the Kincade Fire by late Saturday.

Authorities in Northern California had advised more people to leave their homes as the southern edge of the wildfire moved closer to populated areas in the Bay Area Sunday, according to a Reuters report. The total number of residents urged to evacuate is now close to 200,000.

The Kincade Fire along with the Tick Fire have led California Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare on Saturday a statewide emergency and to call on residents to heed evacuation orders, citing the “extreme fire weather conditions and affiliated red flag warnings” in at least 43 counties throughout the state.

“A fire that occurs or multiple fires that occur during this extreme fire weather event could be catastrophic, and it is imperative that California is ready to immediately mitigate any impacts resulting from these conditions,” Newsom said in his declaration.

As of Saturday, more than 3,000 local, state and federal personnel, including first responders, were assisting with the Kincade Fire alone.

Derderian said the Pasadena water tender that was assigned to the Tick Fire has returned to Pasadena and is on prepositioning status, meaning it is ready to be deployed anywhere at anytime.

On Sunday, the National Weather Service said an even stronger Santa Ana event, with widespread single-digit humidities, could develop across Los Angeles and Ventura counties late Tuesday night into Thursday, that could result in critical fire weather conditions across the two counties.

“This Santa Ana wind event has the chance of being the strongest we have seen so far this fall season, and could become an extreme Red Flag Warning event,” the NWS said. “As a result, a Fire Weather Watch has been issued for this second Santa Ana wind event.”