Crews from two South Shore fire departments left the basin over the weekend to battle wildland fires in near Alturas, Calif., and Winnemucca, Nev.

Tahoe-Douglas Fire Protection District sent three firefighters and an engine to Alturas around midnight on Friday. A water tender and two firefighters left for Winnemucca on Sunday at 1 p.m.

“We try and not leave the crew out there for more than four or five days,” said Tahoe-Douglas Battalion Chief Rick Nicholson. “We’ve been told it could be quite a while so it’s possible we’ll have to replace them with a new crew. But in no way have we left our district without support. We don’t run short because of these requests.”

Lake Valley Fire Captain Joe McAvoy said a three-person crew and an engine left for Alturas on Friday at 8:30 p.m. McAvoy also stressed that sending the firefighters out of the basin is no cause for alarm.

“We never drain our resources to go somewhere else,” he said. “Give until it hurts, but don’t dilute your system. Also it’s fantastic training and exposure. This way they can experience fire that scale and size.”