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Arizona Firefighters Head To Southern California

Thomas Fire
(Photo courtesy of inciweb.nwcg.gov)
The Thomas Fire in Ventura County started on Monday, Dec. 4.

As wildfires continue to spread across Southern California, Arizona firefighters are once again heading west to help.

The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management received orders to send firefighters to California. Once they arrive, Tiffany Davila, who is with the agency, said they’ll be used as strike teams.

"They could be used for structure protection, they could be used for holding the line, you know, relieving some of the fire fighters that have been working non-stop since these fires started," Davila said.

Davila said firefighters will be heading to California sometime in the next 24 hours.

The most damaging fire is in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, where more than 100 square miles have burned.

And on Wednesday morning, a new blaze erupted in the Bel Air area of LA.

KJZZ senior field correspondent Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets — nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.