Dozens of San Diego-area firefighters have been deployed to fight the wildfires in Los Angeles, leaving behind worried family members who count down the minutes until their loved ones walk back through the door. When firefighters are called to duty their families can be left with feelings of fear, anxiety, and dread. “Every day I’m on pins and needles. Do you think you’re going to be sent out? It’s a question I ask daily,” said Stephanie Rosenthal, whose husband, Ben, is a battalion chief with the Carlsbad Fire Department. For Rosenthal, the anxiety ramps up every time a large-scale wildfire erupts, although she knows its a job her husband loves. “Firefighters look forward to this stuff. They want to go do these things, they want to be able to be the ones that are there, Rosenthal said. “But then when you see how bad the fires are, it freaks you out. There have been people we know that have died on strike teams.” The wildfires in the Los Angeles area hit Rosenthal hard. “These are terrible, this is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” she said. In major incidents like the Los Angeles wildfires, family members of firefighters can go long stretches without knowing if their loved ones are safe. “It could be 24 hours before we hear from them, so it’s terrifying.” During those nervous moments, each family has different strategies on how to manage the fear and how to talk to kids about what is happening. Rosenthal says now that her kids are older she tells them everything. Rosenthal says it’s vital that firefighting families find a support system. She feels lucky that her husband is a part of the Carlsbad Fire Department. “Find your people because you are going to need them.” she said. “It makes me cry because you need to find your people because this is your family for the next 25 years. This is your family, you gotta find friends or one person or your group because your husband is not always going to be around and if you don’t have anybody, you are off by yourself.”