Arizona crews and resources helping with firefighting efforts in the Western states

PHOENIX - The death toll from the wildfires in the Western states are still growing.

So far, at least 35 people have died by the flames, and nearly five million acres burned. Help has arrived, however, as more than 200 fire personnel from Arizona are on the west to fight the blazes.

According to Tiffany Davila with the Arizona State Forestry, crews from Arizona have been in and out of California since the beginning of July.

“Right now, we have 200 firefighters out, 40 pieces of equipment, 36 engines, six water tenders and hand crews across California, Oregon and Colorado,” said Davila.

Davila says these wildfires are different from what we have seen in years prior. 

“They just had that lightning burst. What we had here, those monsoonal storms where we had wind and lightning but no follow up with precipitation, they were experiencing the same thing, but on a whole other level. They are also seeing a wind event, these fire are growing thousands of acres in an operational period. These fires are large and very active,” said Davila.

Now that things have calmed down in Arizona, resources can be sent to help out. 

“California called on us, and at the time we were very active, so we could only send a handful because, again, we don't want to deplete resources in the state if we were to become active again,” said Davila.