By Scott Marshall
Contra Costa Times
CONTRA COSTA, Calif. — A team of 22 Contra Costa-area firefighters was mobilized Sunday afternoon to go to help fight wildfires in Southern California, possibly to a fire growing larger near San Diego.
They are among 250 firefighters on a dozen such teams aboard 74 vehicles en route to the fires, expected to begin arriving about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
Heavy off-road fire vehicles from stations in Walnut Creek, El Cerrito, San Ramon and the East Bay Regional Park District Fire Department were ordered to gather at the San Ramon Valley Fire District's station 31 on San Ramon Valley Boulevard for the trip south, said Contra Costa fire Battalion Chief Dave George.
The firefighters were sent to Prado Regional Park in San Bernardino County and could be deployed to Malibu or another fire in the San Diego area, George said.
They could be gone as long as two weeks.
Another similar team of 22 firefighters was to leave from Union City; a team of 22 firefighters from San Francisco was to be sent with engines to protect structures; and a fourth team of 2,000-pound water tenders was to be formed elsewhere in the Bay Area, George said. Northern California teams also were sent from Monterey, Santa Cruz, Solano, San Mateo, Lake, Marin and Napa counties, George said.
Driven by powerful Santa Ana winds, fire threatened Pepperdine University and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes in the Malibu hills on Sunday, authorities said. Flames destroyed a church and several homes, one of them a landmark castle.
About 500 firefighters worked to protect Pepperdine and about 200 homes in the upscale Malibu Crest and Serra Retreat neighborhoods, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Sam Padilla.
The blaze that started in Malibu Canyon had charred at least 1,000 acres.
But the San Diego fire became more threatening Sunday afternoon.
Shortly after 2 p.m., authorities sent out a statewide request for 10 teams, which means a total of 220 firefighters, 10 so-called hand crews that use picks and shovels to bolster fire lines and include 12 to 15 members each, six bulldozers, six helicopters and 10 air tankers, George said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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