Wednesday morning, firefighters from Little Elm boarded a plane bound for California. The department is among 32 in Texas that will send help through the Texas Interstate Fire Mutual Aid System to help battle wildfires.
"If you call, we're gonna go," said Jeremy Wilson, assistant fire chief in Little Elm. "They've been overrun by fires. I think they've got five fires that are zero percent contained."
While Little Elm will send help, it will be bringing something back from California. Experience.
"It's a unique opportunity for us to send our men out, get a totally different type of fire," Wilson explained. "There's a tool in our toolbox we can pull out when we're out on these type fires."
Though the terrain and types of fires are different in California, Wilson said his crew will learn new firefighting techniques they could apply in other situations. "No matter what you throw at us...we're gonna make sure our people stay safe and are going to make sure the people in the community stay safe."
The deployment for Little Elm is expected to be two weeks. Wilson said if asked, the department will send more help.
