Bay Area firefighters describe 'heartbreaking' scene while battling SoCal wildfires

LOS ANGELES (KGO) -- Firefighters from across the Bay Area are on the ground right now in Southern California, lending support to local crews still fighting the destructive wildfires.

"The devastation is the thing that's shocking everybody. The amount of homes burned, the way the fire came down and impacted these communities -- heartbreaking," said Marin County Fire Battalion Chief Graham Groneman.

Groneman said what he's seeing across the Southland is a trail of wildfire destruction.

"There is still active fire burning on the incident up in the hills, firefighters working to extinguish hotspots around structures to ensure the loss is limited to what already occurred," he said.

LIVE COVERAGE: 11 dead, thousands of structures damaged with SoCal wildfires still blazing

Groneman is one of 50 Marin firefighters on the ground lending support in the firefight alongside dozens of other Bay Area crews. His team is also doing surveys from the air over the Eaton Fire zone in Altadena.

"We want to make sure every stone is turned over if someone is missing a loved one and we can identify what occurred and identify if anyone is missing," Groneman added.

CAL FIRE's Lake-Napa Unit, posted on X that its crews helped save a home from the Eaton Fire at 3 a.m. on Friday after working a 24-hour shift.

"We're at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It's being used for basecamp in Eaton Fire," said Santa Rosa Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal.

Lowenthal is part of a team of 70 firefighters from Sonoma County on the frontlines.

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"Yeah, unfortunately we're getting pretty good at our responses to these large scale fires across California. You look at what occurred in our own county with the Tubbs and Nuns fire 2017," Lowenthal said.

Southern California firefighters provided mutual aid to Sonoma County back then. Now Lowenthal's team is essentially returning the favor. An image showing a Santa Rosa engine crew working alongside Los Angeles City Fire is proof.

"Those three engines together are prime example of how firefighters may not know one another. They may operate differently in their own jurisdictions but when it comes to an incident like this, they work seamlessly together," Lowenthal said.

It's unclear how long firefighters may be Southern California. Local fire officials say during their absence, fire stations will remain fully staffed.