TIMES ALBANY BUREAU

ALBANY — A 21-man crew of firefighters left Friday to help fight forest fires on the West Coast. Composed of forest rangers and foresters from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the group traveled to Harrisburg, Pa., by bus, where it would meet up with three other groups for the flight to California.

The four crews will be assigned to the Los Padres National Forest at Big Sur, Calif., and are expected to spend 14 days on active fires, assigned to the East Basin Fire Complex.

As of Thursday, the multiple fires in this complex had burned 89,735 acres of timber and brush. The fires were only 29 percent contained at the time of reporting, with complete containment not expected for several days.

"New York state's forest rangers are among the most highly trained, professional wildfire fighting teams in the nation," said Alexander B. "Pete" Grannis, DEC commissioner, in a release.