Returning firefighters from Rocky Fire help contain Livemore fire

LIVERMORE, Calif. (KGO) -- The 2,500 acre wildfire, that began early Wednesday evening and burning near Livermore, is 45 percent contained. It's been a hard fight along Tesla Road involving hundreds of firefighters from multiple departments.

It has been a struggle for fire crews with resources stretched so thin. However, a Cal Fire spokeswoman told ABC7 News they got a little lucky because this fire broke out just as crews were leaving the Rocky and Jerusalem fires.

PHOTOS: Crews battle fire near Livermore

Still, a lot of firefighters are working a lot of overtime to put out this fire and save homes. In turn, that has homeowners feeling lucky.

The wildfire broke out Wednesday and the closest crews were three units from the Livermore Fire Department were the first to go.

"So that's 30 percent of my department," Battalion Chief Michael Miller from the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department said. "I move engine companies up to cover Livermore from the Pleasanton area and I initiate a recall. And we were lucky enough to get eight people to come back into work."

Rearranging crews happens on a daily basis and when not enough people can come back or work overtime, staffing is simply thin.

"There will always be somebody. What happens is the response time is going to change, so instead of us being anywhere from 3-5 minutes away, it could be 5-7 minutes," Miller said.

At the peak of this fire, there were more than 250 firefighters on the job.

"We have a large commitment of resources tonight and we're going to try to hit it really hard, and then

we'll have a dayshift tomorrow and reevaluate at that point. And then probably start releasing some resources," Cal Fire Division Chief Jamie Norton said.

Those released firefighters will move on to the next fire.

People like resident Mae Long won't soon forget the ones who saved their homes. She said, "If it weren't for the firefighters, we might all be homeless, my neighbors and I. So, we're really thankful for that."

Right now, there are 11,000 firefighters battling 15 fires across California.