GEELONG firefighters are reaching out to assist their American counterparts battle devastating blazes in California.

A crew of five Barwon South West region Department of Environment Land Water and Planning forest firefighters flew with a crew of 33 emergency management personnel to Los Angeles on Wednesday. Geelong region firefighters Aaron Ledden, Aimee Haywood, Barry James, Brooke Bailey and Lachie Davis will help fight the devastating wild fires.

Victoria’s emergency management commissioner Craig Lapsley said Northern Californian authorities had requested support from Victoria to battle fire that have “caused significant death, destruction and community displacement”.

The deployment of firefighters comes as Victoria heads into an “intense fire season” after an extremely dry winter.

“While Victoria is also coming into summer, the Victorian firefighting crews have been sourced from areas across the state and this has been carefully considered to ensure this small but important,” Mr Lapsley said.

He said this deployment would not impact Victoria’s response capability running up to summer.

“Victoria remains focused on being well prepared and resourced to manage the planning and response to incidents and emergencies in Victoria.”

Victoria has a strong and ongoing relationship with California. An agreement with the Californian Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to support each other has been in place since July 2015. This partnership allows the exchange of personnel, resources, knowledge, skill, and mutual support in the event of an emergency.

“The two states have similar challenges with a history of drought and similar challenges with climate and fire and continue to work together,” Mr Lapsley said.

The deadliest wildfires in California history have killed at least 41 people, destroyed nearly 6,000 homes and burned for more than a week.