Round Rock Fire Gears up to help Battle California Wildfires

AUSTIN, Texas - As crews continue to battle wildfires in California, help from Central Texas will soon be on the way.

The Round Rock Fire Department has plans to send a crew over to help. This is the first time Round Rock will be sending a crew out of state to help fight a fire.

This is a part of a much larger statewide effort to help California.

"The guys and gals in California that are serving right now, it doesn't matter how hard they're trying, they're being beaten by mother nature," said Shane Glaiser the assistant fire chief with Round Rock fire.

When California asked for help in fighting massive wildfires Glaiser said his crews were ready to go.

"You know a lot of what we're here for is to protect the public," said Glaser.

They'll be sending three people from their wild land team. This team consists of 21 people who specifically deal with brush and grass fires in the area.

This is a part of a much larger effort from the state. The Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual aAd system plans to send more than 90 firefights from various departments to help California.

"They could be on the fire line itself, they could be doing mop up catching some hotspots so we don't have to worry about re-ignition. None of us will know until they get on scene," said Glaiser.

When it comes to battling fires in other states, Glaiser said unknown terrain and weather pose their own set of problems.

"The winds coming from off the coast line versus Central Texas. We don't have the steady winds coming off the coast so wind flows and weather patterns have a huge effect on the progression of the fire," said Glaiser.

With Texas dealing with its own brush fires this summer, Glaiser said, "The crews leaving should not impact efforts at home. We're still well staffed to handle something locally.

Glaiser says California will be reimbursing their expenses for this effort. Their crews plan to be there around 16-days.