Friday the crew of Aurora Fire Brush Engine 13 had two hours to get prepared for a two-week trip. Fire officials in California asked them to come help fight the fires burning down entire neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area.

As wildfires ravage the Los Angeles region of California, killing at least 10 people and destroying neighborhoods, fire departments from across the Front Range are sending firefighters and crews to assist.

California has issued a state-to-state mutual aid request through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

Rows of cars at a dealership, blasted by flames, looked like they had been bombed. A man wearing a mask walked by debris of a neighborhood destroyed. A couple, arms around each other, looked at what was left of their smoldering home. A statue of a human, without a head, lay on a street.

As a fire ignited in the Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, the winds crashed over and through the mountains like white water rapids. Winds as strong as those in a hurricane propelled the flames through dense urban neighborhoods, and swirling fire whirls danced from home to home, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Three Castle Rock Fire Department members deployed to southern California on Wednesday to support firefighters battling large wildfires around Los Angeles.

Ferocious winds that drove the flames and led to chaotic evacuations have calmed somewhat and were not expected to be as powerful during the day. That could provide an opportunity for firefighters to make progress reining in blazes that have hopscotched across the sprawling region,