Newport Beach firefighters help combat Blue Cut fire

The Newport Beach Fire Department sent two strike teams this week to help fight the massive Blue Cut fire in San Bernardino County.

Assistant Chief Chip Duncan said the teams, totaling 10 people, stayed in the Lytle Creek area in the San Gabriel Mountains on Wednesday and Thursday.

“Resources are very thin out there,” Duncan said. “But this is a dangerous fire, it’s a huge fire, and we’ve sent both men and women out there to fight it.”

During their first day on the scene, the Newport Beach firefighters performed perimeter control and structure defense, with no damage to buildings in their area, Duncan said.

No Newport Beach firefighters were injured.

According to estimates released Friday by San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig, 96 homes and 213 outbuildings had been destroyed by the fire, which had covered 37,000 acres since it began Tuesday in the Cajon Pass.

The Newport Beach Fire Department has a total of 114 personnel and deploys 38 people during every shift. There are three shifts a day.

“We have to be very wise about how we use our resources, because we still have to protect the people in Orange County,” Duncan said.