MONTGOMERY (AP) _ A group of Alabama firefighters originally headed to California to battle wildfires has been rerouted to Oregon.

The Alabama Forestry Commission says the 22 firefighters arrived Thursday evening in Redmon, Ore. They were reassigned because this is the prime season in Oregon for fires started by lightning strikes.

The crew consists of 11 firefighters from the Forestry Commission, nine from the U.S. Forest Service, one from the National Park Service and one from the Pelham Fire Department.