Dozens of Bay Area firefighters are among the hundreds on the front lines of the Oak Fire burning in Mariposa County near Yosemite National Park.
However, concerns grow locally and agencies wonder if they'll have the ability to respond if a major fire erupts in the Bay Area.
Santa Clara County Fire Department is one of the departments that sent crews to Mariposa County, joining at least 75 other local firefighters.
Fire officials admit its a delicate balancing act between being able to battle fires at home and helping out in another county.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Alameda County also sent a strike team of ten firefighters.
"They get assigned an area to protect and assess which homes are salvageable," explained Alameda County Fire Department Chief Ryan Nishimoto.
Oakland, Fremont and Sonoma County also sent teams to Mariposa County.
The question remains if resources will be available if another major fire sparks in the Bay Area.
"We still have a lot of resources here and we have a mutual agreement with other agencies to protect the community," explained Josh Shifrin with Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit.
Cal Fire has already requested additional crews to backfill crews sent to the Oak Fire.
Alameda County Fire explained they require firefighters to do mandatory overtime to make sure the community stays protected.
"When we do send our crews elsewhere, we make sure we backfill with extra shifts, make sure we are fully staffed. It's a big lift," Nishimoto said.
COVID also adds another challenge to the situation with many departments noting that some of their people are in quarantine.
Not all Bay Area fire departments can afford to respond to the request for help.
A spokesman for the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety told NBC Bay Area right now they simply don't have enough staffing to send a team.
Most of the Bay Area firefighters sent to the Oak Fire are expected to be there for at least two more weeks.
