Peninsula Fire Crews Head North To Help Fight Kincade Fire

MENLO PARK, CA — Fire crews from across the Peninsula are heading north to Napa to help fight the devastating Kincade Fire, which has burned tens of thousands of acres in Sonoma County.

Fire crews from Woodside, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Gilroy and Menlo Park were headed to Napa Monday evening, according to a release from the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.

The units are heading north as part of the state's “pre-deployment and positioning” strategy, focused on stopping the fire's spread rather than reacting to it once it has already begun raging, Menlo Fire said in a release.

“[W]e like this new normal of evacuating the communities ahead of the fire, so the fire crews can then focus on the actual fire fight when it comes," said Menlo Park Fire chief Harold Schapelhouman. "They would much rather be pre-positioned than drive through burned out neighborhoods chasing the fire and wondering if everyone made it out alive."

That's what happened last year following the Camp Fire, Schapelhouman noted, when Peninsula crews assisted in human remains and recovery efforts.

"This can get personal for us," Schapelhouman said. "Northern California is where many of our firefighters come from, currently live, or have family, friends and former employees who still live there, or have retired to there."

The fire agencies will call off-duty and reserve personnel back to work in order to remain fully staffed locally, Schapelhouman said.