News  MassWildlife staff among wildland firefighters deployed to Quebec

On July 5, two members of the MassWildlife prescribed fire crew, Connor Fleming and Ben Mazzei, departed for Quebec, Canada to help battle some of the more than 70 wildfires that have continued to burn since the beginning of June. Fleming and Mazzei join 14 other wildland firefighters from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

The crew will travel to Quebec, where they will be assigned to one of many ongoing fire incidents throughout the province. The 16 Massachusetts firefighters will be joined by four firefighters from Connecticut and one from Vermont. They 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.

“We thank Ben and Connor for their dedication to prescribed fire and for supporting this international wildland fire effort,” says Caren Caljouw, MassWildlife's Prescribed Fire Program Manager. "We are proud to provide assistance to our Canadian neighbors and know the experience gained by our staff will translate directly to improving MassWildlife’s prescribed fire program and strengthening our wildlife conservation efforts.”

Rising temperatures, drier conditions due to years long droughts, and a lack of rain and snowfall, all caused by climate change, are fueling increased fire activity, making fire season last longer and its effects more severe. These conditions have made wildfires over the last few years more extreme and active than in the past. The fires in Quebec are just the latest in a series of wildfires burning across Canada this year, including those in Nova Scotia, which resulted in major smoke impacts across the northeastern United States.

“These wildfires are continuing to rage, burning millions of acres of land and blowing smoke into Massachusetts that’s polluting our air,” said DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo. “I’m proud that we are sending another crew of well-trained and dedicated firefighters to help our friends and partners in Quebec battle these intense blazes and stop further destruction of forests.”

“Fueled by climate change, 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.”

Massachusetts, along with the other New England states and New York, established the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact—also called the Northeast Compact—in 1949. The Compact provides a means for member states to cope with wildland fires that may become too intense for a single member state to control. Currently, the Northeast Compact members include seven states—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York—and five provinces—Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland-Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. The Compact also includes the Fire Department of New York City, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. National Park Service.