East Bay Firefighters, Equipment Sent To Fight Wildfire

EAST BAY, CA — The California Office of Emergency Services has activated an East Bay wildfire strike team that includes equipment and personnel from four departments. The team left late Monday or early Tuesday morning.

The strike team has been assigned to the Hog Fire near Mount Lassen, in far northern California. The latest report from Cal Fire, at 10 a.m. Tuesday, is that the Hog Fire has burned 8,000 acres and is just 5-percent contained. It ignited on Saturday. Mandatory evacuations are in place, and about 170 homes are threatened. No injuries have been reported. A fiber optic cable was damaged, hampering emergency communications. A Red Flag warning is in effect because of high temperatures and low humidity.

The strike team includes equipment and personnel from Alameda County Fire and the Fremont, Hayward and Oakland city fire departments.

Each Cal OES strike team pulls from multiple departments, so that major emergencies can be dealt with while not endangering the home communities supplying extra personnel and equipment.

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