Bay Area strike teams help battle Clayton Fire

Strike teams from across the Bay Area are in Lake County to help fight the Clayton Fire, including 44 firefighters from Santa Clara County. More fire personnel are on standby to leave at a moment's notice.

With a GPS tracking device on his IPAD, Santa Clara County Fire Batallion Chief Jason Falarski is monitoring two strike teams from Santa Clara County battling the Clayton Fire in Lake County. They are not far from Main Street in Lower Lake, where much of downtown is burned down.

Firefighters from Santa Clara County Fire, San Jose, Santa Clara, Mountain View and Sunnyale left at 8:30 p.m. Sunday night working 24 hour shifts at a time.

"We are used to it, you are in California so this is kind of what our summers have been for the last few years," said Falarski.

They're equipped with engines with 650 gallons of water to protect homes. Falarski said at least half of the firefighters returned from the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County on Friday. He called this fire season, so far, above average.

"We are just working off a historic drought," said Falarski. "Even though we got the rain, the fuel, moistures are still low and in critical condition."

"There is a strain on time, so you have time with your family or at work," said Santa Clara County Fire Captain Dwayne Drake.

Drake is packed and ready to go, if needed. He moved to the Los Gatos fire station to fill a vacancy, working longer hours and extra shifts, where all hands are on deck.

"You can never dictate or predict from one fire season to the next but this has impacted us a lot, and it's still not over," said Drake.