ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A group of 25 New Mexico firefighters left Thursday morning for California to help battle a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area.

The firefighters are from Bernalillo, San Juan and Los Alamos counties. Firefighters from Albuquerque and Santa Fe will also go to the Golden State to help battle the fires.

The wildland superintendent for the City of Santa Fe Fire Department will lead four of the five engines going out to California. The department stated they sent five wildland firefighters in what is their second deployment to California in the last 30 days.

The fire engines are being deployed on behalf of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security. They expect firefighters will be there as long as needed.

The California fires have killed multiple people, destroyed homes, forced thousands of people to evacuate and left hundreds of thousands of others without power.