Ohio Crews Assisting California Firefighters

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has sent a crew of 20 firefighters to help fight blazes in Klamath National Forest in northern California. The crew departed from Columbus over the weekend. Another crew of 20 has been in Six Rivers National Forest. An earlier crew just returned from fighting a blaze in Oregon. The department's Division of Forestry keeps a list of trained and qualified Ohio firefighters who have indicated their willingness to travel out of Ohio to fight wildfires. The California fire has consumed some 225 square miles of forest and is one of the largest fires in the state's history. Fire officials say the blaze has slowed up a bit but continues advancing, and is only about 7 percent contained.