Wildfires continue to burn across much of western North Carolina and crews there have asked for help.

Local firefighters have responded to that call with local agencies sending support in the form or personnel and equipment.

“On Friday when the request for assistance came out, Chapel Hill along with Carrboro and Orange Rural/Hillsborough Fire Department sent an apparatus and four personnel each,” said Chapel Hill Fire Chief Matt Sullivan.

Sullivan said crews were eager to respond but can only do so once a request is made.

“We just don’t want to flood resources to a disaster area without some coordinated support,” Sullivan said. “And so the Forestry Service, the Office of the State Fire Marshal and state Emergency Management resources are allocating and requesting resources as they plan.”

Sullivan added that it was important to help but also maintain the equipment and personnel needed to respond to any emergencies locally.

“It does take some sacrifice on some of the employees that are left behind because we have to fill holes and in some cases hold some people over,” Sullivan said. “But most of our employees are willing to provide that support when they need the help and the assistance so much out in the western part of the state.”

Sullivan said that he had no problem fielding a group of volunteers when the call came in late last week. The first group sent from Chapel Hill returned to Orange County on Tuesday and another group of four Chapel Hill firefighters was sent up as a replacement. Sullivan said he hoped to have the next group back in Chapel Hill by the weekend. He added it would depend on how much progress had been made fighting the wildfires before a decision would be made on whether to continue sending replacement crews.

Sullivan also pointed out that resources across the state have been deployed a lot recently with workers still trying to help those in the eastern part of North Carolina recovering from flooding from Hurricane Matthew.

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