Local firefighters head south to help fight fires
By Scott Marshall STAFF WRITER
A team of 22 Contra Costa-area firefighters was mobilized this afternoon to be sent to help fight wildfires in Southern California, possibly to a fire growing larger near San Diego.
Heavy, off-road fire vehicles from stations in Walnut Creek, El Cerrito, San Ramon and the East Bay Regional Parks Fire Department were ordered to gather at the San Ramon Valley Fire District's station 31 on San Ramon Valley Boulevard for the trip south, said Contra Costa fire Battalion Chief Dave George.
The firefighters are being sent to Prado Regional Park in San Bernardino County and could be deployed to Malibu or another fire in the San Diego area, George said.
They could be gone as long as two weeks.
Driven by powerful Santa Ana wind, fire threatened a university and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes in the Malibu Hills today, authorities said. Flames destroyed a church and several homes, one of them a landmark castle.
About 500 firefighters worked to protect Pepperdine University and some 200 homes in the upscale Malibu Crest and Serra Retreat neighborhoods, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Sam Padilla.
The blaze that started in Malibu Canyon had charred at least 1,000 acres. But the San Diego fire became more threatening this afternoon.
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