Arizona firefighters battling Woolsey Fire in California now heading home

PHOENIX (KSAZ) -- Many Arizona firefighters are now able to spend Thanksgiving with their families, after spending the past few weeks battling the Woolsey Fire in Southern California.

The images of the Woolsey and Camp Fires show destruction and devastation in California, but they are no surprise to Arizona firefighters who are in the Golden State.

This is nothing new to our firefighters," said Tiffany Davila with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. "They were out on the Thomas Fire last year. They were out on the Napa Fires last year, so they will continue to go when California calls and asks for more assistance."

Dozens of departments sent man power and equipment to Northern and Southern California, and as the winds die down and the rain heads their way, the firefighters are starting to come back.

"That's allowing California to release our firefighters and bring them back home, hopefully before the Thanksgiving holiday," said Davila.

Officials describe this year's fire season in Arizona as a mild one, but the frequency of the infernos out west give pause to the future of wildfires.

"We are starting to see fire season year-round, and obviously, we're seeing that in California," said Davila. "We are getting calls every day on little fires. It could be a tenth of an acre , a quarter of an acre, We just had one down south that was 3,500 acres. We're seeing calls every day."