Yuma, Arizona - On Tuesday November 26, 2019, just after 8:15 am the Yuma Fire Department received a mutual aid request from California authorities regarding a Task Force deployment to the Santa Barbara, area. Within the next hour an Engine and 4 YFD personnel left Yuma to meet with other members of an Imperial Valley Task Force and proceed to the Santa Barbara area.

The travel to this area is expected to take most of the day.

A Task Force consists of several firefighting apparatus with personnel and a team leader drawn from various departments.  A team will normally stay together through their deployment. Due to the equipment and training of our personnel, they are usually assigned to structure protection duties in neighborhoods. Although deployed personnel are prepared to be gone for up to 2 weeks, we hope that they will not be needed for that long.

Little information is available at this time, but the “Cave Fire” has been burning in this area since yesterday. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available. The last time YFD personnel were deployed with a strike team or task force was last month to the “Kincade Fire” in Sonoma county, and they were gone for 15 days.