YFD strike team facing harsh weather conditions as Kincade fire ravages

Over 45,000 total firefighters are fighting the Kincade fire in Northern California, which includes four of our very own.

Every day, four Yuma Fire Department ( YFD ) personnel are on the strike team list ready to go whenever mutual aid is requested; including a captain, an engineer, and two firefighters who are all red card certified.

Currently, 10 active fires are raging in California.

Kincade is the largest blaze of them all.

The Kincade fire has affected more than 75,000 acres of land.

Cal Fire tallied over 100 structures are destroyed and dozens are damaged.

To prevent more damage and destruction, YFD firemen were deployed on Saturday to help protect the homes and buildings in the affected and surrounding neighborhoods.

They worked through the night on Sunday, with a day of rest on Monday.

Tuesday the team went back to work.

Mike Erfert from YFD said, ” Generally if [the strike team] is able to do so, we receive word from them in a text or phone call and that goes to our battalion chief. So far, today we haven’t received any word. It’s very likely they’re out on the fire line, with the condition up there, there may be disruptions in communication that comes with that too. ”

Tuesday, a major wind event is expected to affect the Sonoma County area, making conditions treacherous for firefighters.

YFD confirms their ability to respond to local emergencies has not been lessened.

The strike team is expected to be deployed for at least two weeks.

In the event that more time is required, a new strike team will be sent to relieve the current one.