Base camp crews work to assist Lake Fire fight

NIPOMO, Calif.- Over 3-thousand personnel are working at base camps in both the Santa Maria and Nipomo locations to fight the lake fire.

At the base camps there are laundry, medical tents, a mobile kitchen unit, sleeping trailers and more for the many responders from various agencies to work together on battling the lake fire.

There is also a supply unit that is responsible for the equipment needs of the firefighters.

Headlights, hoses and work gloves are just some of the gear being used by crews here on the Central Coast.

"If we weren't here doing this job, they would actually have to pull firefighters from the line to do this job, which means less resources out there, less boots on the ground helping fight that fire. So the more boots we have out there by us working here, we're able to support them from here. And they're doing their job putting the fire out out there," said Damian Medina with California Conservation Corps.

"Everyone comes together as one giant unit, whether it's paperwork or firefighting. Everyone just does it all to get the job done," said Justin Boyajian with Cal Fire Tulare.

Santa Barbara County Fire says it takes an army to support an army and that’s what base camp is.

Fire fighters at the camps also say the base camp operates like a small city.