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Kitsap fire strike team heads to fight California fires

Published 1:30 am Monday, August 24, 2020

By Bob Smith

Kitsap fire strike team heads to fight California fires
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Kitsap fire strike team heads to fight California fires
The South Puget Sound Strike Team, which includes firefighters and paramedics from South Kitsap Fire and Rescue, are fighting fires burning near Livermore, California. The inferno generated numerous lightning strikes in the area. (Photo courtesy of the South Puget Sound Strike Team)
Firefighters extinguish flames that destroyed an SUV in the LNV Lightning Complex fire in Northern California. (Photo courtesy of the South Puget Sound Strike Team)
Apparatus and firefighters from Kitsap County gather before heading out to fight wildfires in Northern California. (Photo courtesy of the South Puget Sound Strike Team)

PORT ORCHARD — Following a trend that has become a yearly campaign, the South Puget Sound Strike Team comprising firefighters and apparatus from fire districts in Kitsap County has once again headed to California to assist in the fight to douse devastating wildfires.

The fire strike team — with 16 firefighters and paramedics from South Kitsap Fire and Rescue, Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue, Poulsbo Fire Department, North Kitsap Fire and Rescue and Bainbridge Island Fire Department — headed to fight the 220,000-acre LNV Lightning Complex fire in Northern California.

That fire has claimed four lives and has threatened 30,000 structures. Officials said Monday that just 7 percent of the fire has been contained. Among the businesses destroyed was the 130-year-old Nichelini’s Family Winery, Napa’s oldest family-owned winery.

Another fire, the Walbridge Fire, has claimed 21,000 acres and is 0 percent contained.

It is unclear when the strike team will return to Kitsap County.

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