Seattle, Everett firefighters en route to California

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.

The Getty Fire in Western Los Angeles is threatening 7,000 residences, and has burned 14 already. An extreme red flag warning is in effect in L.A. as the fire is expected to worsen into Wednesday due to winds.

The Kincade Fire in Northern California, in Sonoma County, is threatening 90,000 structures.

Meanwhile, Pacific Gas & Electric has cut electricity for more than a million people to try to prevent new fire starts.