Even before the fire whistle blew in Maxwell to summon volunteers to a fire Saturday, Merced Fire Chief Mark Akers saw the plume of black smoke from the freeway.

Akers was leading a strike team home to Merced, Fresno and Madera counties after weeks of battling landscape-altering wildfires in the beautiful Shasta-Trinity Forest.

“Some of these guys have been up there for 14 or 15 days,” Akers said. “We’re all pretty tired, but glad to assist wherever we can.”

Akers said when he saw the smoke rising above the rooftops of the tiny town, he stationed his team on the freeway while he called the Maxwell Fire Department to offer help.

“We could tell from the lack of steam that no water was being put on the fire,” Akers said. “We know that with so many fires going on, resources everywhere are being stretched thin.”

Around 2:15 p.m., the fire, which is still under investigation, completely engulfed a garage and small structure behind a residence on Vine St.

Maxwell Fire Chief David Wells welcomed the traveling firefighter’s help on a fire that may have spread from a pile of grass clippings near the alley, torching the garage and spreading to the other building.  

It’s the third fire in Maxwell that a strike team pulled off Interstate 5 to assist since a lightening storm sparked numerous wildfires in Northern California a month ago.

“There are so many strike teams running up and down the freeway right now,” Wells said. “It’s very nice to get the unexpected help.”

Wells said that with so many engines and firefighters on the scene, the fire was knocked down in a short amount of time, before a breeze blew up to spread the fire to other structures.