More than 30 firefighters from British Columbia’s Wildfire Service have returned home from a deployment fighting the massive wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes around Southern California.

The B.C. Ministry of Forests said the crews are part of two separate groups, the first consisting of 13 technical specialists who were deployed Jan. 11 to support the effort to combat the Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles, The Canadian Press reports.

Then, on Jan. 16, the BC Wildfire Service sent another 22 front-line firefighters along with an agency representative to California.

The second crew worked on front-line fire suppression and other activities targeting the Eaton and Hughes wildfires to the east and north of LA.

The wildfires are now considered contained, but 29 people were killed and as many as 19,000 homes and other buildings have been destroyed since the fires started on Jan. 7.

The Ministry of Forests said the crews gained valuable experience during the deployment, including developing and training in techniques for fire suppression without water availability.

The ministry says that experience will allow the Wildfire Service to have improved capabilities for fighting similar fires in its home province in the future.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2025.