Fall River, Worcester, and Boston area firefighters among those headed to battle large Montana fire

Boston —  On Friday July 19, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and Department of Fish and Game will send a crew of wildland firefighters to Helena, Montana, where they will help battle one of nine active and uncontained large fires currently burning almost 46,000 acres across the state. 

This is the first DCR crew that is being deployed this year to assist with increased fire activity across the northwest, California, and the Rocky Mountain states. The 20-person crew is comprised of 19 DCR wildland firefighters and one from the DFG’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), who are qualified for national interagency wildfire mobilization. Last summer, DCR deployed three crews of wildland firefighters to assist in fighting the wildfires that raged across the country and neighboring regions, including two crews sent to Quebec, and one crew that consisted of 17 DCR firefighters and two from MassWildlife that was deployed to Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in western Montana.  

“We are extremely proud of the DCR and MassWildlife firefighters who have answered the call to help our partners in the Northern Rocky Mountain region fight these blazes,” said DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo. “These are extremely well-trained, dedicated and hardworking firefighters whose skills are much needed, and whose help, we know, is enormously appreciated as we work together to stop the destruction of our natural resources.” 

“The wildfires raging across Northwestern Rocky Mountain region are devastating—for both people and wildlife. We are extremely grateful for the dedicated staff from DCR and MassWildlife who have volunteered to contribute their hard-earned skills to this important cause,” said DFG Commissioner Tom O’Shea. “As climate change brings more frequent, long-lasting drought and extreme heat, wildfire seasons are intensifying across North America. We are committed to continuing to stand by our partners in other states to protect the public, our forests, and biodiversity.”

The crew, which is also referred to as a “Type2 Initial Attack Hand Crew” will engage in direct fire suppression, working on the fire line for about 14 days – building fire breaks, securing fire perimeters, containing fires, and protecting structures.

The deployment is in response to a request DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo received this week from the Northeastern Interagency Coordination Center at the White Mountain National Forest in Campden, NH. Massachusetts was one of the original members of the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission, a compact comprised of the six New England states, New York, and four eastern Canadian provinces and provides international and interstate wildland fire mutual aid assistance. Partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission, DCR’s Bureau of Forest Fire Control and Forestry has been sending crews since 1985 to fight fires in areas of the western and Rocky Mountain States, Alaska, Florida, Virginia, and Quebec. 

“A persistent wet weather pattern across our entire northeast region has kept wildfire activity low for most of the year thus far,” said DCR Chief Fire Warden, Dave Celino.  “This allows Massachusetts and other northeastern states to lend support to our friends in the west through a well-coordinated national response system.”   

Nationally, there are some 92 large fire incidents currently burning in 11 western states, including Alaska, for a total of 966,000 acres impacted. The increase in the risk and extent of wildfires in the western part of the country over the last two decades has been driven by climate change-induced hotter and drier temperatures, extended drought and an atmospheric thirst, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Fire managers across the Western U.S. have been challenged by very hot and dry conditions with low humidity, and periodic dry lightning systems for several weeks. These conditions have dried forest and grassland fuels to critical levels that are conducive for active and extreme fire behavior. The increase in fire activity in the western part of the country is just the latest in an ongoing international wildfire issue across the globe this year.  According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there are more than 19,426 wildland firefighters and support personnel assigned to fire incidents across the country.

All firefighters are federally certified for the work, having passed a 40-hour federal wildland firefighting class and physical fitness test. Through the mutual aid agreement of the compact, the requesting state or province pays all expenses of the out-of-state crews, including salary, transportation, lodging, and food.

The responding DCR and MassWildlife firefighters are as follows:

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