Bay Area fire crews on the front lines serve as veterans, provide leadership at SoCal wildfires

LOS ANGELES (KGO) -- As Los Angeles County continues to burn out of control, Bay Area firefighters are also at the front lines.

This time, they are lending their experience and expertise as veterans--veterans of the Bay Area's own massive wildfires. Among them was Division Chief Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal with the Santa Rosa Fire Department

"The Eaton Fire, where we are now, the focus has really shifted on putting out a lot of the hot spots that are around the structures. Even though we are at 15% containment, it doesn't mean we have 85% of open fire line that is actively burning. There is a little growth right now, but the focus is on getting the perimeter completely out and able to hold the potential winds that we are anticipating over the next several days," Lowenthal said.

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In the Bay Area, we know them well: The Oakland Hills. Glass. Carr. Tubbs. Camp -- all devasting wildfires from which Bay Area fire crews can draw experience. And in Southern California, they can provide leadership, guidance and direction on the front lines.

"There are a lot of our firefighters who were heavily involved in the Tubbs and Nuns Fire in 2017. The Glass Fire of 2020. The Kincaid Fire, the LMU Lightening Complex Fire in 2019. There is a lot of experience from a lot of devastating fires that does help when you come to an event like this," Lowenthal said. "A lot of those experiences help those communities who haven't gone through it before, as well as firefighters who haven't experienced that level of fire activity or destruction."

And it's not just the fire crews. Santa Rosa City and Sonoma County officials have been guiding local politicians as well. Not just about the fire fight, but also about the day after.

"A lot of the chief officers from our agency and Sonoma County are here. They are part of the incident command system. They are part of the leadership of this overall operation. But at the same time, there are also conversations that are happening with our department and our city to L.A. City, to other jurisdictions in the area that have been impacted on a lot of our lessons learned. Not just for the fire fight. But the recovery and what's ahead or this community," Lowenthal said.

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Lowenthal said conditions to have improved. He said there is a dramatic drop in the sheer force of the winds which was pushing embers through the air adding the rapid spread.

"When you drive around here, to see the sheer number of chimneys standing up. The number of structures and really the history, especially here in Altadena. You look at businesses that have been in the community for 60-plus years. Churches, temples, schools. It is pretty devasting to see the level of destruction that has taken place in this community," he said.

Lowenthal anticipates his crew will be in Southern California for at least two more weeks.