While Presidio of Monterey firefighter, David Serna, was working a 24-hour shift battling the River Fire in Monterey County Aug. 19, a sheriff’s deputy instructed Serna’s wife, Gina, to immediately evacuate their home in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Soldiers with the Illinois Army National Guard’s B Company, 2nd Battalion, 238th General Support Aviation, based out of Peoria, Illinois, hurry to make ready one of their helicopters, a CH-47 “Chinook,” for the long journey out to California. Today, Aug. 31, that helicopter arrived safely in Mather, California, about 18 miles east of Sacramento, to help with the largest wildfires in California’s history.
