Pursuant of a well-established Automatic Aid Agreement and ensuing Mutual Aid Requests, the Los Angeles Fire Department has deployed eight Strike Teams of Firefighters, six helicopters, one Bulldozer crew and key LAFD Command Officers and support staff to assist the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Angeles National Forest Firefighters in their battle against a Mutual Threat Zone brush fire in the vicinity of Kagel, Lopez and Little Tujunga Canyons not far from the Lakeview Terrace neighborhood in the northeast San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.

These 275 personnel from the Los Angeles Fire Department were dispatched to the "Marek Wildland Fire" in accordance with California's Fire & Rescue Emergency Mutual Aid System, administered by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. The system is designed to ensure that additional resources are provided to local jurisdictions whenever their own resources are committed or insufficient for a specific emergency incident.

The City of Los Angeles remains protected by the use of additional staff and reserve apparatus to cover foreseeable local needs.

The men and women of the LAFD ask motorists to remain watchful for these and other convoys of emergency apparatus, and to be mindful of the space necessary for them to safely maneuver on local roads and highways.

Pursuant of protocol, official public and media information regarding this wildfire incident, including the actions of assigned LAFD personnel, will be coordinated through the U.S. Forest Service and Los Angeles County Fire Department, which maintain daily jurisdictional authority of the area where the fire erupted.


Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department