Members of the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Crew at DEEP’s Eastern District Headquarters in Marlborough on Wednesday, July 5, before departing to fight wildfires in Quebec, Canada. (Photo courtesy of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation.)
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont announced today that the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)’s Forestry Division coordinated a mobilization of four Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew (CIFC) firefighters to fight wildfires in Quebec, Canada.
The group is part of a 20-person crew under the mutual aid Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact, known as the Northeast Compact, that deployed from DEEP’s Eastern District Headquarters in Marlborough Wednesday morning.
“Once again, our brave firefighters from the Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew are stepping up to help our neighbors in the north as they battle some of the worst wildfires in Canada’s history,” Governor Lamont said. “Their unwavering courage and selflessness make Connecticut proud.”
“Connecticut is answering the call once again to help our Canadian friends in their time of need,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said. “The members of the Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew and the Northeast Compact are remarkable, putting themselves on the line for others, and are so generous with their time. I’m so grateful to them, and our hard-working Forestry Division, for coordinating these deployments which have such a profound impact on our neighbors in Canada as they continue to battle these wildfires.”
The CIFC members who deployed this morning include one full-time DEEP staff member and three members who work in the private sector. The rest of the 20-person crew that deployed this morning is composed of compact members from Massachusetts and Vermont.
For more information about the CIFC, visit portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Forestry/Forest-Fire/Connecticut-Interstate-Fire-Crew.