Merced firefighters deployed to assist with Southern California wildfires

Eight members of the Merced City Fire Department have been deployed to assist in the firefighting effort of wildfires raging in southern California.

On Jan. 8, the department sent two fire engines, a California Office of Emergency Services engine, a City of Merced fire engine type 3 engine and a Battalion Chief serving as a strike team leader, said Merced Interim Fire Chief Casey Wilson. An additional person was deployed out of a Central Valley area regional team as part of a rescue task force to assist with the fighting of the wildfires on Jan. 11, and to assist with the searching of burned buildings.

“Initially the Merced City type 3 engine was assigned to the Hurst Fire,” Wilson said. “Once they got that under control they were actually re-assigned to the Palisades Fire. Our OES type 6 engine that was deployed initially on the eighth, was assigned to the Eaton Fire and they are still assigned to that incident.”

The Rescue Task Force member has also been assigned to the Palisades Fire.

The local firefighters are assisting as part of the California Fire Assistance Agreement, Wilson said. The agreement, through the California Office of Emergency Services, means the city will staff those engines and deploy whenever possible to assist.

“That’s really how most agencies throughout the State of California are able to support these incidents,” Wilson said.

The city will be reiumbursed for the cost of sending equipment and staff to the fire and for filling positions while the firefighters are away.

“They could be actively fighting fire, they could be in a contingency area in case the fire expands to this area,” said Wilson. “They could be shuttling water, they could be mopping up hotspots around structures, they could be doing structure defense, quite a few different things they could be doing.”

Most of the response when dealing with high winds as is the case with the current incidents, is less about actively trying to extinguish the fire, said Wilson, and more about the safety of lives, protecting critical infrastructure and saving property.

Wilson said firefighters receive some training specific to wildland fires as they go through the academy. Additionally, city firefighters receive some annual training related to wildland firefighting as there are certain requirements that firefighters must meet in order to be eligible to deploy to wildfire incidents.

“Usually around May or so, before the typical start of fire season — fire season is now kind of year-round — we will go through and test all of our skills deploying fire shelters, hand line construction, hose lays and different things like that to ensure all of our skills are up to date,” Wilson said.

City firefighters also work to complete training burns, sometimes partnering with neighboring agencies in the process of the training and practicing skills.

“It is highly beneficial for us, the city firefighters, to go out and deploy on these incidents because it allows us to learn skills that we wouldn’t typically otherwise experience in the City of Merced,” said Wilson.

When it comes to wildland fires, there is generally a Cal Fire or a federal incident management team that runs the incident and further broken down into various branches and then divisions with tactical assignments within those divisions.

Wilson said the fire department has remained in contact with the firefighters sentto the Southern California incidents as well as checking in with their family members during their deployment.

“We’ve been checking on them, they’re all doing well,” he said. “We’ve been checking on their families to make sure that all their families are doing well and our guys are really good about taking care of each other so when another member deploys they’ll check with the family to see if they need anything at home or if all is going well or if something comes up we’ll jump in and help them out.’’

The Merced City firefightersare expected to return home about Jan. 23 or 24, Wilson said.

The Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires began burning in Los Angeles County on Jan. 7. The latest Cal Fire reports indicate the Palisades Fire has burned an estimated 23,713 acres and is 19% contained while the the Eaton Fire has burned an estimated 14,117 acres and is reported to be 45% contained, as of Wednesday afternoon.

The Hurst Fire which was also reported on Jan. 7, 2025 in Los Angeles County has burned an estimated 799 acres and is 97% contained, according to Cal Fire. Fire officials said the cause of the three fires remains under investigation.

The California Highway Patrol has sent a Special Response Teams (SRT) to assist local law enforcement and protect communities impacted by the wildfires burning in Southern California. The SRT officers are trained in natural disaster response and will work with the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office, California National Guard and other agencies in southern California to ensure public safety in the areas impacted by the fires.

One sergeant from the Merced area CHP office who is part of a Cal Fire response team, also has been deployed to southern California to help local and state agencies.