A group of 20 firefighters, including several who battled October’s Saddleridge fire near Sylmar, will travel to Australia on Monday to help combat the wildfires that have ravaged roughly 12.4 million acres of land and killed at least 24 people and millions of birds, reptiles and mammals.
The firefighters are all leaders in their units and collectively have more than 100 years of experience, each five- to 20-year veterans.
“It’s an impressive dream team of sorts,” said Angeles National Fire Service spokesperson Andrew Mitchell.
Many in the group performed an array of tasks during Saddleridge — one was the captain of a hotshot crew, another oversaw a firefighting unit, some worked on aviation assignments. They all will assist the Victoria Rural Fire Service, the largest fire service in the Australian state of Victoria.
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