Firefighters make it back in time for Thanksgiving after helping California

Hundreds of firefighters are returning to Texas after helping crews fight the massive wildfires in California. These firefighters were actually expecting to still be gone on Thanksgiving but were able to make it back just in time. They were deployed for nine days.

Firefighters were reunited with their families around 7 Wednesday evening. There were 2 task forces made up of firefighters across multiple agencies in Central Texas.

Crews who came back Wednesday said they helped to contain the fire, put out hot spots and cut down burning trees. They said their mission was to let Californian firefighters who had been working nonstop rest. They also said they were able to notice the massive smoke from the wildfire nearly an hour away on there way there. When they finally did arrive they immediately got to work.

“We were in the dust there were times when You’re walking through ash and on these hillsides up to near your knees just because everything has burned down there were many parts of the valleys that were just down to the minerals the soil where everything had burned,” said Captain Andre De La Reza with the Austin Fire Department.

All the firefighters from here who went are specially training in fighting wildfires. They plan to take what they learned over there and use those strategies here if the need ever rises.