
Two strike teams from the Las Vegas Valley are back on their home turf after lending their fire-fighting expertise to the battles against the Los Angeles County wildfires, as announced by Clark County. According to FOX5 Vegas, the 45 members, drawn from Clark County Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, and the Henderson Fire Department, embarked on separate missions starting on January 8 and 9 to the Palisades and Eaton Fire near Pasadena, respectively.
The teams were primarily engaged in preventive work, a duty outside the realm of their usual wildland fire response, to protect structures threatened by the rampaging flames. In a statement obtained by News 3 LV, Capt. Ghazinour of the Clark County Fire Department described their role saying, "We’re not a wildland team. So, we weren't in the middle of the fire, right? We’re doing a lot of preventative work, we have big engines that are made for structure fires so we were among the structures; the wildland guys were out fighting the wildland fire." Their efforts included fighting building fires, protecting homes, and safeguarding neighborhoods.
As the teams returned on Thursday evening, they brought back not just equipment but stories of resilience from the communities they served. Capt. Ghazinour shared with News 3 LV, "The entire area was full of people who have lost everything, their houses, their food, their way of living, sometimes their careers and their business burnt up so it's always tough to see." Capt. Grove, also from the Clark County Fire Department, recounted poignant moments of desperate hope saying, "We would catch people going in the rubble and the debris and there was nothing left in their house and all they would want is their plant in the back of the house that was their mothers and that was all that was left."
In addition to their fight against the fire, the teams assisted homeowners to return safely to their properties and aid in the search for valuables among the ashes. Capt. Grove shared sentiments on the community's gratitude, despite their losses: "The outpour from their community to use, driving down the street nothing but waves and saying thank you and it was like it was taking you back. These people lost everything but they're trying to pay for a meal for you just for being there that was heart-touching for everyone," he told News 3 LV.