A group of New Hampshire firefighters has returned from the West coast after helping fight a forest fire in California.
A few days before Christmas, Jessica Allen of Marlow got a call that she was shipping out to California for two weeks.
Allen was one of 10 New Hampshire firefighters called to help combat the Thomas wildfire that’s burned more than 280,000 acres and destroying more than a 1,000 buildings since it started in early December. It’s one of the state’s largest wildfires in modern history.
For Allen, this wasn’t her first out of state trip. She’s fought flames in Colorado, British Colombia and Montana, and all in the past year.
“It’s a learning experience to the extreme. You learn something new each trip – it can be little things or it can be big things. But it also may give you perspective of the fires in New Hampshire, as it’s something we don’t see in this area very frequently," Allen said the day she got back.
Allen is now excited to be back with her family. They celebrated Christmas together this past weekend – tree and all.
