Lindsey Wolfe, James Hutchinson and Angels Vargas of the Gearhart Fire Department are among 17 county firefighters headed to California to battle wildfires.

Three Gearhart firefighters, Lindsey Wolfe, Angels Vargas and James Hutchinson spent more than two weeks in California fighting fire at the LNU Lightning Complex Fire in Napa Valley, based out of Calistoga, California.

“Our personnel, along with others from the county, have been supporting backfire operations, initial fire and spot fire attack, mop-up operations and fireline patrol,” Chief Bill Eddy said last Tuesday.

Last Wednesday night, the Seaside Fire Department department back five firefighters — Katie Bulletset, Matt Keefer, Cesar Alcala, Cody Parry and Max Savage — returning from the LNU Complex wildfire in northern California.

The fire is the second largest in California, Rankin said.

They and other Clatsop County firefighters joined crews to battle the LNU fire, which has burned more than 375,000 acres. It is currently about 70% contained.

A tree fell on a Seaside brush truck, but no one was injured, he added. The truck is under repair in Santa Rosa, California. The truck should return to service within two to three weeks.

“We had rigs from all over Clatsop County,” he said. “They were all spread out in the canyon, bad communication radios, but they were staying busy. They said the camp was good, the food was no issue, they got to meet Guy Fieri,” he said, referring to the host of the TV show “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.”

Fieri was at the fire camp cooking for the crews.

Locally, high winds brought down trees overnight into Tuesday and heavy smoke over all of the region.

The smoke is all from the east, Fire Chief Joey Daniels said Tuesday.

“A lot of the county public safety agencies were out most of the night dealing with down lines and trees,” he said.

Local firefighters quickly geared up this week to join crews throughout the state responding to fires in Marion County dealing with a wildfire creating level three evacuations, Chief Joey Daniels said.

The task force from Clatsop County includes firefighters from Seaside, Gearhart, Warrenton, Lewis and Clark, and Knappa.