PORT ORCHARD — Five South Kitsap Fire and Rescue members left early Monday to join the massive firefight in Southern California.

According to SKFR officials, the crew members are staffing one of the brush engines in a five-engine strike team that also includes crews from East Jefferson Fire Rescue, Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue, Bainbridge Island Fire Department, Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue, and North Kitsap Fire and Rescue.

NBC News reported Monday that more than 500 acres of a Los Angeles hillside was on fire, threatening a major commuter thoroughfare and the Getty Center museum. More than 500 area firefighters there are fighting the flames in order to save about 10,000 homes and businesses.

The brush fire also caused a partial closure of I-405, a congested transportation corridor connecting the San Fernando Valley and other northern suburbs to West Los Angeles.

Crews from six Kitsap County fire and rescue agencies are heading to Southern California to help fight rapidly spreading wildfires threatening thousands of homes and businesses, including the Getty Center museum, in the greater Los Angeles area. (SKFR photo)