It took courage, fearlessness and heroism to battle the deadly Napa fires and the La Tuna fire, but those are the exact qualities many brave individuals possessed and put to use in order to protect hundreds of people.
Los Angeles Fire Captain Dario Reyes from Station 98 in Pacoima was one of the thousand firefighters who battled one of the largest fires in Los Angeles history.
"Everything pretty much came through here and took out everything in its way," he said.
As destructive as the La Tuna fire was, devastating a total of 5,800 acres, firefighters were able to prevent the blaze from reaching residential areas.
"We were able to save all the houses here," Reyes said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department defends homes and lives not only in the community, but wherever help is needed.
Batallion Chief Albert Ward said firefighters are trained to be ready for all kinds of situations.
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"When the bell goes off, you don’t know how big or how long you’re going to be there," Ward said. "And you are climbing hills with lots of hose backs on your back you just keep going until the work is done."
Which was exactly the case when they were alerted of the Napa fire. The team immediately hit the road and went to work within 30 minutes of arriving to the Grapevine after a seven-hour ride.
"We went right to a winery and we started protecting that structure," Justin Horwedel said.
Without much sleep or breaks, thousands of firefighters relentlessly battled the harsh blaze of Napa.
Probationary firefighter Alexander Hermann had been working with the department for just three weeks when he joined to fight the Napa fire, where he earned a lifetime of experience.
"Everybody was waving, honking, shaking our hands when they could,"Hermann said, "It was pretty overwhelming with the amount of gratitude they had for us."
