Sonoma County fire engines head south for blaze

Sonoma County’s first strike team of fire engines this season headed south Tuesday morning for rural San Benito County where three fires totaling more than 1,000 acres are burning.

The group of 18 firefighters, led by Windsor fire Battalion Chief Ron Busch, has been assigned to the Eastern fire. That blaze was about 170 acres Tuesday morning and 5 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. Burning just 15 miles away is the county’s larger fire - the Airline fire. As of Tuesday that had burned 850 acres and had 20 percent containment.

The two fires are between Interstate 5 and Highway 101. San Benito County is south of Gilroy and north of Coalinga. Firefighters have a third county fire in hand, at 64 acres and 75 percent contained.

Cal Fire requested the strike team of wildland engines, which are used for rural blazes and rough territory. The agencies participating are Windsor, Healdsburg, Sonoma Valley, Forestville and Gold Ridge.

Local firefighters worked strike teams into late December for huge blazes in Southern California. That duty followed weeks of fighting the October fires that killed dozens, caused tremendous destruction in Santa Rosa and throughout the North Bay and brought out-of-area firefighters to this region.

-Randi Rossmann