MERCED, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A firefighting father and son duo from the Central Valley bumped into each other while responding to the Los Angeles County fires. The City of Merced Fire Department says Captain Akers was part of their task force sent to help battle the Palisades Fire. The Captain's son, a firefighter with the Cal Fire Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit, was also sent to battle the blaze. Although the pair were working opposite shifts, they were able to see each other briefly in between assignments. Mason Akers and his father Captain Akers This was not the first time the duo fought the same blaze; in 2008 the two both battled the Telegraph Fire in Mariposa County.