Local fire crews headed to San Diego

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Cal Fire teams from as far north as Santa Clara met at Klein's Truck Stop Wednesday afternoon. Southern Cal Fire teams need back up to help fight multiple fires ravaging the south. Cal Fire engineer Greg Leonard is from Santa Clara and says they got the call this morning to pack up and leave town.

"When the southern region gets to a draw down when there resources are committed to other incidents, that's when they'll call the northern region and ask for assistance," said Leonard.

At least eight fires in San Diego County have forced evacuations across the county. There haven't been any injuries reported but homes and buildings have been destroyed quickly due to strong Santa Ana winds.

"This is rare we're getting an early start, we've talked a lot about the drought conditions. Our fire activity has almost doubled as far as the starts we're getting," said Leonard.

Fifteen firefighters from Madera, Mariposa and Merced met up this afternoon. They'll be joined by eighty Tulare based firefighters in LA County.

"We all have type three engines that are four by four capable, we've got to be able to climb mountains with these engines," said Cal Fire Engineer Raul Garza.

"So now we get to put all the training we did over the winter get on the engines and head to an incident where we can hopefully make a difference," said Leonard.

Leonard says they won't know what assignment they're on until they get to their posts. The jobs could range from manning fire stations that need bodies to fighting fires. Temperatures have been in the triple digits for the fire crews and that's not expected to change until next week.