More Nevada fire crews depart for California

Another 18 firefighters and two strike team leaders from the Las Vegas area were sent to Southern California on Friday, bringing to roughly 200 the number of Nevadans helping battle wildfires that have devastated the region.

Ten volunteer firefighters from rural Clark County were among those who left Friday, including the only woman in the group, 20-year-old Britney Dobrin. The Indian Springs resident will be making her first attempt at fighting fires.

"I just want to show them I can do it," she said of the other firefighters on the strike team, who were all older and more experienced. "I want to show a girl can do everything a guy can do."

Fire Department Capt. Steven Saulter, a 25-year-old volunteer from Indian Springs, said he saw it as his duty to help contain the fires.

"Some (professional firefighters) do it for the glory, some of them do it for the name," he said. "The volunteers, we do it because we want to. We do it for the community."

The volunteers, unlike most of the county's firefighters, are trained to fight wildfires. They are likely to be sent to the front lines, Fire Department spokesman Scott Allison said.

Eight firefighters and one battalion chief from North Las Vegas were also sent to Southern California on Friday.

The firefighters will report to a staging area in Chino, then be directed to a site closer to the fires, Allison said.

Firefighters from Nevada have been battling blazes in San Diego most of the week,

Allison said fire crews from the Silver State were credited with preventing 37 structures from being destroyed on Thursday, but he had no other details.

More than two-dozen personnel from various fire agencies in northwest Arizona have also been sent to Southern California, including members of the Bullhead City, Mohave Valley, Hualapai and Pinion Pine fire departments and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Kingman.

People wishing to help the victims of the wildfires are being asked to bring blankets, hats, sunscreen and toiletry items today and Sunday to the corner of Flamingo Road and Hugh Hefner Drive, next to the Palms.

The Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation and the Palms will collect donations between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. and will deliver the items to the Salvation Army in San Diego.

Review-Journal writer Dave Hawkins contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0440.