California firefighters face unique challenges, but may get help from Texas and beyond

HOUSTON - As firefighters continue to struggle against the devastating wildfires around Los Angeles, they have not been able to get the upper hand. 

While the flat terrain around Houston is nothing like the mountains around LA, firefighters have imagined trying to defend our own dense neighborhoods against relentless flames.

RELATED: Los Angeles wildfires latest: At least 8 dead as crews struggle to contain blazes

Fire Captain Jason Adams leads the Spring Fire Department's 'Wildland Team'. They fight wildfires like many of the notable blazes that scorched parts of Texas, like a panhandle blaze that burned a million acres last year, and a series of fires in Bastrop County. He's also offered assistance in California, and says the challenge there is unlike any other. 

"What we deal with, here in Texas, really can't compare to what they're going through," Adams said. "With those Santa Ana winds, and wind gusts 60-70 miles an hour, it's just unprecedented, and it's crazy."

Three years ago, Lake Conroe was the training-space for Montana-based Bridger Aerospace, and it's fleet of firefighting aircraft and crew that deploy all over the country to hotspots like the latest wave of California wildfires. Each run, they told us at the time, brings a powerful punch to help firefighters on the ground. 

"One aircraft could put about 30,000 gallons of water on the fire in about four hours," said Bridger's Barrett Farrell. "We're buying these firefighters time, because the aircraft don't put the fires out, it's the ground firefighters that do."

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And on the ground, every bit of help is welcome. 

"In a wildfire setting, you're talking about embers being blown in 60-70 mile an hour winds that can be carried 10 miles in through the atmosphere, land on another dry patch of land and start another fire," Adams said. "(That's) what you're seeing in California, right now."

At last check, Bridger Aerospace in Montana is gearing-up to deploy to California, if necessary.

With very little containment so far, Adams imagines some of the fires could burn for weeks. In Texas, fire authorities are consulting whether to send mutual-aid in the form of equipment and firefighters to California to help. That decision could come as soon as this weekend.