FYI. The Wildfire Crew is well on their way to British
Columbia for a two week assignment with two crews from Quebec to assist with
heavy wildfire activity throughout the interior portion of the province.
Massachusetts firefighters are comprised of 14 from Mass DCR and 2 from Mass
DFW. Crew leadership reports the crew has performed excellent through the
first phase of the mobilization. They are energized and excited to get assigned
to one of the 110 large fires currently burning and represent Massachusetts, the
United States and the Northeast Forest Fire Compact in the highest regard.
Massachusetts Dept of Conservation and Recreation
Out of State Wildland Fire Mobilization Briefing
Friday
8-4-17
There is currently 1 mobilization ongoing from Massachusetts
to British Columbia, Canada.
Massachusetts Wildfire Crew- MA#1- Wildfire Hand Crew
20 Person Hand crew: 14 DCR, 2 DFW, 4 New Hampshire (NHS)
Crew Boss: Alan Smith, NHS (State)
Roy
Liard, MAS-DCR (Crew BossTrainee)
Assignment: NE Compact Assistance to BC Canada
Location: Interior BC (No specific Fire
Assigned yet)
Size:
Containment:
Total Personnel :
Incident Information:
The
MAS#1 Crew was mobilized on 8-3-17 and mustered at Hopkinton State Park
Headquarters where gear was checked, weighed and prepared for transportation to
Quebec City, Canada. Crew loaded a bus
at 0900. First stop was New Hampshire to
pick up 4 NHS firefighters, including the qualified crew boss to make up a full
20 person handcrew (standard size).
Crew successfully crossed the border with no issues and arrived in
Quebec, where they have linked up with the Quebec SOPFEU Forest Fire
Agency. They will link up with 2 Quebec
Wildfire Handcrews for the final flight to British Columbia this morning. A Quebec Liaison will be assigned to MAS#1
for the duration of the assignment.
Destination is Prince George, where
there is a large fire camp to support crews.
They will be embedded and in briefed on the British Columbia fire system
and the fire issues facing then over the next 14 days.
The
Mobilization is facilitated through the Northeast Forest Fire Compact, of which
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Quebec have been strong participating member
for over 60 years.
Current Situation: There are over 110 large fire burning within
the interior portion of BC totaling over 1 million acres. Resources from Mexico have also been tapped
through an international agreement. Fire
activity is being driven by extremely dry fuel conditions resulting from little
to no precipitation over the last few months combined with abnormally high
temperatures reaching the upper 90’s this past week. Little to no precipitation is expected over
the next 2 weeks.