As Barona Fire Chief Ken Kremensky worked to suppress the flames burning Los Angeles, it was hard to tell what time of day it was. Lunchtime looked like midnight, the smoke blocking out the sun. “But it would glow and the fire would crack while things were blowing up,” Kremensky recalled. “Horns were going off. It was war almost.” The infernos burned more homes and structures than he had seen in his decades-long career. He was among several local firefighters from San Diego County who suited up and headed north to aid their overwhelmed colleagues in Los Angeles earlier this month. The fires in the Pacific Palisades and near Altadena ripped through neighborhoods and burned almost 4 square miles of densely populated areas of Los Angeles, stretching firefighting personnel in the area thin. In order to assist with evacuations, carve out fire lines to contain the blazes and extinguish flames before they could burn down more homes, crews from various firefighting agencies around San Diego County — including from Cal Fire, San Diego, Poway, Chula Vista, Carlsbad and National City — responded on Jan. 7 and 8. Firefighters from San Diego County respond to the Eaton Fire that broke out Jan. 7 near Altadena. (Photo courtesy of Barona Fire Chief Ken Kremensky) Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua described being on the streets at the Palisades fire looking at a “wall of flames.” “You’d have fire on both sides of you, and the wind is blowing flames across the street as opposed to the flames burning up,” Pascua said. “You can get cut off very easily from your escape route because you’re not driving through that wall of flames.” The firefighters said they quickly learned first-hand what was propelling the historic blaze: fast-moving Santa Ana winds that could reach as high as 100 mph at times. “I had little burns on my neck and wrists from the embers,” Kremensky said. “And the water drops (from airplanes and helicopters) would barely even hit the ground. They’d just spring back up into the atmosphere.” Firefighters from San Diego County respond to the Eaton Fire that broke out Jan. 7 near Altadena. (Photo courtesy of Barona Fire Chief Ken Kremensky) For the first 36 hours of their deployment, Kremensky said he and his crew worked tirelessly to extinguish the Eaton fire in Altadena. He said his nephew, a captain with Cal Fire, was also working to fight the blaze, but in the Palisades. “We’re a family of firefighters,” he said. Both Pascua and Kremensky said the fires reminded them of previous ones in San Diego — particularly the Cedar Fire in 2003 which burned more than 270,000 acres, and the Witch Creek Fire in 2007, which burned nearly 200,000 acres. They’re still figuring out when they and their teams will be called off the line, the men said. But they know the community is very appreciative that they came north. “We’ve been in the line at the store, and a guy comes up (he’s lost his house and everything) and says: ‘Thank you so much for being up here,’” Kremensky said. “These people have the attitude that they’re going to rebuild; they’re going to move forward.” Pascua said this kind of partnership is vital, especially given that high winds — and an increased fire danger — are set to return to the San Diego area in the coming weeks. “It’s important to lean on each other because San Diego is going to need a helping hand one day also,” Pascua added.