BOSTON – Last week the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced that it is sending an additional team of four senior fire wardens to Idaho to assist in combating the ongoing wildfires. The crew is made up of DCR Chief Fire Warden David Celino and DCR District Fire Wardens Patty Correia, Trevor Augustino and Tom Muise. Chief Celino and Wardens Correia and Augustino will join a team of 17 firefighters from Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine and New Brunswick, Canada as members of the Northeast Forest Fire Compact Incident Management Team (IMT2). Fire Warden Muise will also be deployed as a Communications Unit Leader on a separate Incident Management Team.
“I commend Chief Warden Celino and District Wardens Correia, Augustino, and Muise for their bravery in joining DCR firefighters currently dispatched to battle fires in the western portion of the United States,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “I am proud of these individuals who have answered Idaho’s call for help, and am confident in their ability to assist in containing these destructive and dangerous wildfires.”
The deployment is in response to a request DCR Commissioner Sanchez received from the U.S. Forest Service and the Northeastern Interagency Coordination Center in Camden, NH.
“The Commonwealth is fortunate to have some of the best trained and well qualified fire officials in the country,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton. “I am confident that Chief Celino and his Wardens will put their expertise to good use and continue Massachusetts’ proud history of answering the call of our neighbors during their time of need.”
On this assignment, DCR Chief Fire Warden Celino and Wardens Correia and Augustino will be assisting a crew battling the Last Inch Fire, located 12 miles east of Clarkia, ID. The fire is currently burning 460 acres and is 15% contained. Additionally, Warden Muise will be assisting at the Teepee Springs Fire, located 20 miles south of Riggins, Idaho. The fire is currently 8,310 acres and is 5% contained
“Chief Celino and Wardens Muise, Correia and Augustino are selfless public servants with years of combined experience battling wildland fires,” said DCR Commissioner Carol Sanchez. “These are extremely well-trained and dedicated senior firefighters whose skills are much needed, and whose help, we know, is enormously appreciated by our neighbors out West.”
On August 8, 2015, Massachusetts sent a 20-person crew to also assist with the containment of wildfires in Oregon. That crew has been working on the Eldorado Fire, 5 miles southeast of Unity, Oregon. That fire is currently burning 20,611 acres and is 45% contained. The crew remains healthy and energized as they make their final push before being timed out and sent back to Massachusetts next week.
Partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission, DCR’s Bureau of Forest Fire Control has been sending crews since 1985 to fight fires in areas of the western and Rocky Mountain States, Alaska, Florida, Virginia and Quebec.
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 for the out-of-state crews, including salary, transportation, lodging, and food.
