Santa Barbara County deployed a task force of local firefighters and fire engines to the Eaton Fire in Altadena on Saturday, Jan. 11, according to the fire department. They join roughly 14,000 firefighters in a statewide effort to contain the Los Angeles wildfires devastating the county.

Santa Barbara County and local fire crews joined thousands of firefighters suppressing the fires in Los Angeles. Photo Courtesy Scott Safechuck

Fires in Los Angeles have burned thousands of buildings and forced up to 92,000 people to evacuate their homes. The Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades is the largest blaze of three major fires and the Eaton Fire is one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history. The fires have burned over 40,000 acres, decimated 12,300 structures and killed at least 23 people as of now, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).

When the fires began on Jan. 7, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department sent a strike team of five fire engines and a battalion chief, who manages operations, to suppress the fire within two hours, according to Public Information Officer Scott Safechuck. Agencies from the operational area, including the Vandenberg Space Force Base, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the Montecito, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara City and Carpinteria-Summerland fire departments also deployed five engines to tackle the fires across Los Angeles. 

“They’ve been actively engaged every day. They worked for almost 72 hours straight under that initial attack [they] were assigned from the Palisades and then up through Malibu,” Safechuck said. 

On Saturday, the operational area sent an Urban Search & Rescue task force including four engines to the Eaton Fire in Altadena. The Eaton Fire has burned over 14,000 acres of land so far, according to CAL FIRE.

“They have search cameras. They have ways to shore up buildings that might be falling over. They can sift through ashes, looking for human remains. They can do a lot of different things,” Safechuck said.

In total, 14 engines and two battalion chiefs have been sent from the county and operational area to the Los Angeles fires. Safechuck says roughly 20 to 25 personnel from the county are at the fires, though it could be up to 30.

No Santa Barbara County firefighters have sustained injuries as of Jan. 11, he said.

“We remain in the high fire season. Our fuel moistures for our vegetation on the mountains in Santa Barbara County are at critical levels. Until the county receives several inches of rain, we’ll remain in fire season,” Safechuck said.

The Nexus will continue to report on this topic as more information becomes available.

A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the Jan. 16, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.

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Lizzy Rager
Lizzy Rager (she/her) is the Lead News Editor for the 2024-25 school year. She can be reached at lizzyrager@dailynexus.com