Overview
- About 150 California fire and rescue personnel have been deployed to assist communities hit by severe flooding in Western Washington.
- The mission includes three US&R task forces, one Incident Support Team, and two Marin County swift‑water rescue boats with six personnel, coordinated with FEMA.
- Personnel were drawn from the Los Angeles City, Menlo Park, Orange County, Riverside City and San Diego fire departments, with Sacramento’s USAR Task Force 7 sending 40 members.
- Cal OES characterizes the effort as mutual aid and says California’s emergency response capacity remains intact during the deployment.
- Back‑to‑back atmospheric rivers triggered life‑threatening flooding with record river levels and evacuations; officials reported no deaths as of Friday afternoon, and Marin Fire expects the operation to continue through Dec. 18.