Fire crews outside San Diego County help battle Lilac Fire

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Fire crews near and far from San Diego County were called in to help battle the Lilac Fire.

When the call came in for the Lilac Fire late in the night, so many crews were standing at the ready, including some more than a thousand miles away.

They say they're in the county because they know what it's like to face a fire you can't fight alone.

More than 200 first reponders rushed to the Lilac Fire in Bonsall, a familiar territory for many, but for some, not at all.

"It is a completely different animal down in Southern California with the winds...the constant Santa Anas," said Dan Mulick, a water tender and strike team leader from Clackmas, Oregon.

Mulick and his team from the Clackmas Fire Department (CFD) came down earlier this month, making their two-day drive to pre-position themselves for two weeks in Riverside County.

"The excitement, the eagerness of the crews is always there," Mulick shared.

He's one of nearly 400 firefighters from Oregon called to Southern California amid yet another red flag warning.

Mulick says massive wildfires back home in 2020 gave them a whole new respect for mutual aid.

"We were requesting help from everybody...and everybody from around the region came to help," Mulick spoke.

Now, they're proud to answer the call.

"So anytime a big fire comes up in the region, everybody understands what that good feeling is when help shows up. Because at those times, We didn't have it for quite a while and we want to return the favor," Mulick remarked.

Those additional crews were critical in slowing the Lilac Fire's rapid spread made all the more dangerous by the Santa Ana winds and the driest start to winter ever recorded.

"That is the ingredients for extreme fire behavior," said Capt. Robert Johnson with Cal Fire.

Cal Fire says help from far away is not often called upon this time of year.

"We tend to see this, though, in the summer months and not necessarily in the winter months. So seeing resources from out of state, in the month of January, is abnormal for us," Capt. Johnson stated.

Still, every firefighter from every angecy, now waits with bated breath, ready at a moment's notice.

"It wasn't a huge surprise that we ended up down here. I am thankful that we got here as fast as we did, though," Mulick expressed.

Like the aid, that gratitude goes both ways.

According to Cal Fire, as of Tuesday night, the Lilac Fire burned 85 acres and is 50% contained.