(Oct. 27, 2006) -- Responding to a request by the CA State Office of Emergency Services, the LB Fire Dept has dispatched a Strike Team consisting of five engine companies and a Battalion Strike team leader, to the Esperanza fire, burning near Beaumont.

LBFD says its crews were dispatched at 4:30 am today (Oct. 27) to the Oak Valley/Twin Pines area for structure protection. "LBFD resources will be utilized for at least a twenty-four hour period, with the possibility of being extended. All Long Beach Fire Stations remain at full staff," LBFD says in a release.

LBReport.com posts below a satellite image of the blaze released Oct. 27, captured Oct. 26 at 2:05 p.m. by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration's National Environmental Satellite, Data & Information Service. The agency's Operational Significant Event Imagery team consists of scientists who produce high-resolution, detailed imagery of significant worldwide environmental events.

Credit: NASA/NOAA