Volunteers are flooding to the front lines of a wildfire Washington state in a battle to save as much as land as possible from the ongoing blaze — a fire that has taken the lives of three firefighters.

Devastating wildfires are blanketing eastern Washington state, forcing firefighters to stretch themselves thin in order to combat the blaze and leading them to call on volunteers to help get a handle on the situation, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

That even means donating equipment, like backhoes, water tenders, or in one case even a firetruck, said Washington Department of Natural Resources spokesman Joe Smillie according to the report.

The state has set up training centers to help smooth this problem and make the volunteers as proficient as possible. They are even making phone calls to contact and screen potential volunteers — and people have been responding, with lots of people coming in person and hundreds more calling or emailing.

Equipment is the main need for firefighters, not personnel. Mostly, such people would work in a support role, and are unlikely to be put on the front lines without firefighting experience. Just this spring, the legislature had passed a bill making it easier to recruit citiens to assist firefighters thanks to limiting liability in case something goes wrong.

So far, 17 large fires have obliterated 400,000 acres in the region, and it is growing by a rate of 130,000 acres in 24 hours, as of Friday. Obama declared a federal emergency due to the situation, allowing the federal government to increase funding for emergency operations. Unfortunately, the weather isn’t cooperating, with Friday’s gusts called to be as high as 50 mph, with unfavorable wind shifts.