20 SoCal Firefighters Return Home After Battling Australian Bushfires
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Twenty Angeles National Forest firefighters who traveled to Australia to help battle the bushfires which have ravaged the island nation for nearly six months returned home Wednesday.
The firefighters left just after the new year and spent about a month battling wildfires in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, assisting the Victoria Rural Fire Service.
After landing at L.A. International Airport, they were reunited with family at L.A. Fire Department Station 5 in Westchester.
"Rough, rugged, beautiful terrain, and fire usually picks those kind of areas," firefighter Leonard Dimaculangan told CBS2 Wednesday. "It was a humbling experience to say the least."
"Just like anywhere else, you have to watch out for certain kinds of spiders and snakes...and big, big, huge lizards," firefighter Gabriel Romero added.
Since the fires broke out in September, at least 33 people have been killed and more than 27 million acres have burned, mostly in the Southeastern states of New South Wales and Victoria, according to BBC News. At least 2,000 homes have been destroyed.
One ecologist told CBS News last month he estimates that more than 1 billion animals have been killed in the fires.
On Jan. 23, three U.S. military veterans were killed in a plane crash while fighting the fires.
Australian fire crews have themselves in the past come to California to help battle wildfires here.
"All of us on the forest, and I know their families are proud of the hard work our dedicated firefighters accomplished while in Australia," Angeles Fire Chief Robert Garcia said in a statement Monday. "We look forward to hearing and learning from their experiences while abroad."
