Everett fire trucks are heading to fire lines today — not in Washington state, but in California.

They are among the 31 Washington state fire departments sending personnel to help with the major northern and southern California fires. There are tens of thousands of homes under threat, and fire crews in California are maxed out.

Crews from Seattle, Everett, San Juan, Arlington and Bothell are en route to California where they'll get assignments.

"They are red card certified which means they are trained specifically in wildland firefighting, so it's very different than traditional structural firefighting," says Bothell Fire spokesperson Nicole Strachila.

Not all Washington state fire departments require their personnel to be trained for wildland fires, but many of them get the certification on their own. 19 people with that special training in King County are deployed to California.

They will work long hours after their drive, signing up for 12 to 24 hours shifts for the next 14 days. Washington state's military department helped organize the trip.