Four fire department engines from the Texas Panhandle have set off for California, to give aid to fire crews in that state who are locked in a pitched battle with multiple wildfires.
As The Amarillo Globe-News reports, the convoy includes three units from the Borger Fire Department and one from the Amarillo Fire Department. The fire fighters loaded up the trucks and headed west, only a day after Gov. Greg Abbott authorized fire crews and support personnel from across Texas to help battle the blazes that were still only 30 percent contained as of Tuesday afternoon.
The fires have claimed 42 lives, and 228 people have been listed as missing.
Late last week, the fire all but completely destroyed the hamlet of Paradise, California, a city roughly the size of Garden City, Kansas. The Texas A&M Forest Service has also sent 27 of its fire engines to fight the blazes.