Press Release  DCR and DFG Send Crew of Wildland Firefighters to Battle Montana Blazes

Boston —  The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) sent a crew of 19 firefighters – 17 from DCR and two from DFG – Thursday morning to Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in western Montana to help battle the large fires that are burning across the state.  

This is the third crew of wildland firefighters DCR has deployed to assist in fighting the wildfires raging across the country and neighboring regions this summer. In June, DCR deployed 11 firefighters to assist in fighting wildfires in Quebec, Canada, and in July, in partnership with DFG, the department deployed to the region another crew of 16 wildland firefighters that included two firefighters from DFG. Response efforts are now shifting to the western United States, with more than 80 large fires currently burning more than 534,000 acres in 14 states.         

“As these wildfires continue to rage on across the country, burning thousands of acres of forest to the ground, DCR and DFG firefighters have stepped up again to help our partners in need fight these devastating blazes,” said DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo. “DCR is proud of our dedicated and hardworking firefighters who will be on the frontlines in the Northern Rocky Mountain region over the next two weeks, working to stop further destruction of our natural resources.” 

“Changes in climate create warmer, drier conditions, leading to longer and more active fire seasons. Wildfires are negatively impacting public health, forest health, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity here in Massachusetts and throughout North America,” said DFG Commissioner Tom O’Shea. “We are extremely grateful to the dedicated staff from DCR and DFG who have volunteered for this important and difficult assignment.”   

The crew, which is also referred to as “Type 2 Initial Attack Hand Crew,” departed DCR’s Bureau of Forestry and Fire Control headquarters in Carlisle early Thursday morning to head to Logan Airport, where they flew to Idaho Falls, and then drove to the 4,000-acre fire burning at Bowles Creek. The fire burning at Bowles Creek is approximately 27 miles south of Phillipsburg, Montana. Fuel conditions continue to dry in the western states as temperatures continuously run above average and recent precipitation has been minimal.      

Crew members 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 crew will operate for an average of 14 to 16 hours a day while on assignment.  

Thursday’s deployment was 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. 

Warmer temperatures, drier conditions due to years of prolonged droughts, and a lack of rain and snowfall, all caused by climate change, are fueling increased fire activity over the last several years, making the fire season last longer and its effects more severe. These conditions have made wildfires more extreme and active. Climate change also affects wildlife in forested areas, including an increase in insect activity which affects tree mortality and can create more fuel for fires to feed off. The increase in fire activity in the western U.S. is just the latest in an ongoing international wildfire issue across the globe this year. So far this year in Massachusetts, more than 847 wildfires have burned 1,500 acres.  According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there are more than 10,600 wildland firefighters and support personnel assigned to fire incidents across the country.  

DCR’s Bureau of Forestry and Forest Fire Control has been partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission since 1985 to fight fires in areas of the western and Rocky Mountain States, Alaska, Florida, Virginia, and Quebec.   

All deployed wildland 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 Massachusetts firefighters are as follows: 

DCR and DFW firefighters:     

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