Fire Engine 3 of the Sunnyvale Public Safety Department was called to duty to help out.

One lieutenant and three officers from the Sunnyvale department joined the Santa Clara County strike team and drove the engine and the necessary equipment down south to help.

Fire Engines 3 and 4 of the public safety department are designated wildland fire units and those officers serving in the units are specially trained for the type of wildfires that are occurring in Southern California.

Despite the training, John Pilger, the city's communications officer said this kind of fire fighting was dangerous and difficult. "These are really tough conditions. They're on the fire line literally for days, there's uneven footing and wild life like snakes to contend with," said Pilger.

According to Pilger, the men worked together as a unit and were to be replaced by Fire engine 4 if necessary. Given the scope of the fires, Pilger said he thought the officers would likely have been deployed for an extended period of time.

Fortunately, the Sunnyvale group and Engine 3 safely traveled the road home on Monday night, and Engine 4 never had to be deployed.