ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE
U.S. Military already fighting fires in California, ready to do more
The Defense Department now has 500 active-duty troops and a variety of equipment on standby to assist with the wildfires in California, said the deputy Pentagon press secretary.
“As announced by the president, 500 active-duty personnel currently stationed at Camp Pendleton, California, are preparing to support requests from federal and state authorities with route clearance, commodity distribution, search and rescue, rotary wing, airlift and general support, as requested,” said Sabrina Singh during a briefing today.
Those 500 active-duty personnel are from the Marine Corps, she said.
March Air Reserve Base, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, is also now serving as a staging base for efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Singh also said that a defense coordinating officer and support element are being activated as well.
The department is also preparing some 10 Navy-provided helicopters with water delivery buckets to assist with aerial fire suppression, Singh said. Those Navy helicopters, along with aircrew, are coming from California’s Naval Station North Island, Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendelton and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
“Under a long-standing memorandum of agreement with CAL FIRE, active-duty units in Naval Region Southwest are prepared to provide aircraft and aircrew to support the firefighting efforts,” Singh said. “These units are trained and annually certified by CAL FIRE to provide supplemental firefighting capability when requested by the state of California and approved by the ”
More than 800 National Guard personnel from California, Wyoming and Nevada are already on the ground or have been activated to provide assistance. The Guard is also operating 10 helicopters for firefighting and search and rescue operations.
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