Lt. CJ Thorne of the Keizer Fire District is glad to be in Los Angeles, helping with wildfires tearing through communities. Thorne is part of a strike team dispatched last week to Los Angeles. “We are happy to help in any capacity that we can,” Thorne said in a phone interview. “We have California to help with our wildfires. We don’t often get to pay back that favor.” Thorne’s team from the Keizer district includes Capt. Aaron Pitts and firefighters Casey Finnerty, Christopher Zammarelli and Brian Loan. They traveled on a fire district engine, arriving for assignment on Friday, Jan. 10. They have been assigned to the Palisades Fire, one of two mammoth wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and other buildings in the past week. As of Monday, the death toll stood at 25, officials said. The Keizer crew is part of Strike Team 3 which includes fire teams from Marion County Fire District 1, Aumsville, Mount Angel and Silverton. A crew from the Salem Fire Department also has been deployed as part of another strike team. Thorne described the crew’s most recent 24-hour shift, tasked with laying hose line in the narrow Topanga Canyon Boulevard area, burned over by the Palisades Fire. He said the Keizer team worked with other crews to put in place about 3,500 feet of fire hose with spurs. Cal Fire provided the hose. The hose was placed along a hand-dug fire line in a brushy, unpopulated portion of the canyon. “We were attending the line, putting out hot spots 200 to 300 feet off the fire line,” Thorne said. He explained the need to attend to hot spots. “A root system can burn for days, if not months, if not attended,” he said. “If it’s unattended and the wind gets on it, it can spread to an unburned area and create another fire front.” The National Weather Service put much of the fire region into a red flag warning starting early Tuesday for another round of near-hurricane force winds. The warning means conditions are ideal for fire to spread quickly. Thorne said the crew is being housed in Santa Monica, south of the Palisades Fire. “They’re taking real good care of all of our needs,” he said. The team is on a 14-day assignment. The drive down in a fire engine was long. “Those things aren’t built for comfort,” Thorne said. “They’re built to do a single job and that’s put out fire.” Thorne was restricted by fire commanders from discussing fire vehicle inspections en route to the fire. Oregon state fire officials in recent days have worked to knock down what they said were inaccurate social media posts. Those posts spread rumors that out-of-state fire crews were delayed by checks for emission controls, according to the Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal. The agency said fire rigs were checked for mechanical soundness after traveling hundreds of miles with repairs done on the spot as needed. As of Monday, Jan. 13, Oregon had dispatched 370 firefighters on 21 strike teams with 75 engines and 30 water tenders. Those dispatched include a Polk County strike team. The Oregon Department of Forestry separately has sent 70 wildland firefighters, assigned to the Eaton Fire. That includes three from the Santiam team based in Lyons – Trent Tegen, Cody Cone and Zach Rose. A map produced by Cal Fire shows the burn range of the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. Keizer firefighters were assigned to track hot spots in Topanga Canyon. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Scenes from Los Angeles: Salem fire crew chases down hot spots Salem-area firefighters get to work on Palisades Fire as thousands of acres burn Salem firefighters headed to Los Angeles area to help fight wildfires STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected]. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE – If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Keizer firefighters join forces working to check massive LA wildfires appeared first on Salem Reporter.