President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that Mexico was sending a team of firefighters and military personnel to Los Angeles to support the fight against the devastating fires.
“We’re going to send a support team to Los Angeles,” she told reporters at her morning press conference.
She said the team is made up of National Forestry Commission firefighters and Ministry of Defense disaster relief workers.
Sheinbaum said that the decision to send the team to Los Angeles came after Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente spoke with U.S. and California government officials.
She said that the members of the team are completing the relevant immigration paperwork in order to enter the United States.
“We’re going to help, not just because the people and government of Mexico have always been generous, but also because there are a lot of Mexicans in this part of the United States,” Sheinbaum said.
“So we’re going to send a team, [the U.S. authorities] were very grateful and we’re doing the migratory paperwork that has to be done so they can arrive,” she said.
Fires across Los Angeles County had damaged or destroyed thousands of structures and claimed at least 10 lives as of Friday morning, according to officials in the U.S.
Firefighters have made some progress in containing the blazes, but “much of Los Angeles County remains under a red flag warning through Friday night,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
There have been no reports of any Mexicans having lost their lives due to the wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of acres in different areas of Los Angeles.
Mexico’s Consul General in Los Angeles advised any Mexicans who have been affected by the fires and require assistance to contact the Mexican Consulate.
“In case of requiring support or official information contact us on telephone 213-219-0175,” Carlos González Gutiérrez said in a video message on Thursday night.
He also advised Mexicans to obtain information about the fires only from “official sources” and to prepare an evacuation plan and a “kit” containing their essential documents such as passports.
With reports from La Jornada and El Universal
