DCR Sends Crew of 20 Wildland Firefighters to Help

                           Battle Blazes in Oregon

Massachusetts Wildfire Crew mobilizes to Oregon today with other eastern crews to Redmond, Oregon Air Center for assignment to one of 29 active large fires burning in the Northwest 

BOSTON – August 8, 2015, Today, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced that it is sending a crew of 20 wildland firefighters to Oregon to help battle fires that have raged over nearly 263,000 acres across Oregon, Washington and California in the last week. The crew is made up of 10 DCR state firefighters and 10 municipal fire fighters from various towns around the state. The 20 firefighters departed from Erving State Forest in Erving, Massachusetts. They will join with crews from New York and the Mid Atlantic states at a mobilization center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania before departing for Oregon. 

 “We are happy to answer the call of Oregon and send these extraordinary public servants to assist in their time of need,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Massachusetts is proud of our history of national and international cooperation in battling wildfires that know no borders. On behalf of the entire Commonwealth, I offer my prayers for those impacted and for the safe travel and return of our firefighters.”

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. 

“Massachusetts is the home of some of the most talented and well qualified firefighters in our country,” said EEA Secretary Matthew Beaton. “With little notice, these state and municipal firefighters are answering the call of Oregon and I am confident they will put their extensive training to use in battling these wildfires.” 

On this assignment, the crews will be initially prepositioned at Redmond Air Center and Smoke Jumper Base in Redmond, Oregon for assignment to one of the 29 fire currently burning out of control in both states.  The crew, which is also referred to as a “Type 2 initial attack hand crew,” will engage in direct fire suppression, working on the fire line up to 14 days – building fire breaks, securing fire perimeters, containing fires, and protecting structures.

“We are extremely proud of the DCR and municipal firefighters who have been called upon to help our friends and partners in Oregon,” said DCR Commissioner Carol Sanchez. “These are extremely well-trained and dedicated firefighters whose skills are much needed, and whose help, we know, is enormously appreciated.”

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 of the out-of-state crews, including salary, transportation, lodging, and food.

Massachusetts sent a 20-person crew in 2014 to assist with containment of several lightning caused fires in and around Leavenworth, Washington.

The responding Massachusetts firefighters are as follows:

STATE DCR Firefighters:		Municipal/Private firefighters:
Whittier, Gregory	Deerfield	Belanger, Jeffrey	Deerfield
Armstrong, Robert	Conway	Belote, Alex	Kingston
Jennell, Benjamim	W. Newbury	Branscombe, John	N. Brookfield
Hallinan, Jonathan	Peabody	Forgea, Bruce	Windsor
Digirolomo, Rebecca	Worcester	Hanecak, Jesse	Whately
Hoffman, Ryan	Billerica	Kalweit, Christel	Sandwich
Liard, Roy	Wakefield	Korby, Charles	Montague
Luongo, David	Sandwich	Nolette, George	N. Brookfield
Nutter-Upham, Cassie	Nashua, NH	Ward, Ezra	Montague
Robbins, Keith	Westhampton	Renshaw, Christopher	Tolland, CT

Press Release Contacts:  Kevin O’Shea - (617) 626-4967 or kevin.o’shea@state.ma.us

SMOKEY BEAR to be 71 on August 9th ... some pictures from his 70th birthday celebration held at Fenway Park

With help from Massachusetts DCR, US Forest Service Eastern Region 9, Wally the Green Monster, the Boston Red Sox and Smokey's many fans from the Red Sox Nation ....

SUMMER FUN .. DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR SMOKEY ON !!

NFFPC's FPET to leave Long Island today 
...  final report on Southern Pine Beetle assignment

The WFPET was deployed on June 7, 2015 and was assigned to be working out of the Suffolk County Fire Training Academy in Yaphank NY located on Long Island. Funding for the team was provided by the North East Forest Fire Compact and the Mid-Atlantic Forest Fire Compact. Several NY DEC employees were assigned to the team as liaisons and subject matter experts. Bill Fonda, Rob Cole, Jessica Cancelliere and John Wernet were primary points of contact.

Today (Thursday 6/11) was the last full day with the remaining Team members. It was spent mostly with administrative tasks, finalizing products, and report compilation. 

However we did have the opportunity to talk with two homeowners very near the training center we were working out of. After observing several “red-tops” we investigated and ultimately talked with one owner who had 3-5 SPB trees and the other one had 12-18 trees. While providing information we found that their reluctance to cut the trees was not the cost of $700-$800 per tree (yes per tree, welcome to Long Island), actually this might be a bit less if several were taken down at one time. The problem was the tree cutting ordinance of the Town Of Brookhaven. For a first time violation for cutting down a tree without a permit it would be a $500 to $2,000 fine and 15 days in jail. To just apply for a permit it costs$300…ouch! We wrote a letter to our host suggesting that DEC seek to broker an agreement with the Town of Brookhaven (and other similar towns) to waive the application fee if a SPB spot has been identified and confirmed by a DEC employee or a trained town employee. Training for town officials was also suggested.

We feel this is a CRITICAL action to work towards because without it we feel a majority of the pine component of this small community and other similar ones will be devastated.

To the right is a list of many of the “products” we developed…     

The team discussed the importance of sharing many of  the prototype products developed with the various partners here in the Pine Barrens on the Island especially if many were not going to be further developed by the DEC as during our talking with these partners they were asking for this type of material.

This will find its way in the final report but we also feel strongly that a Southern Pine Beetle Task Force be created to help leverage each cooperators strengths and resources to help with the situation. As the beetle moves off state, federal and locality lands onto private lands more and more the challenges of education and on the ground accomplishments will become more and more challenging.

The pictures below are from Virginia in an area very much like what there is the potential for here on the Island. When citizens are being directly impacted, when it hits home so to say they will demand support and guidance beyond the current capacity of the cooperators now working together.

As this will be our last daily report we want to thank the DEC AND ALL who have welcomed us and supported our efforts. We just hope that our work will make your job a bit easier when it comes to communicating and educating those being impacted now and who will be later. Good luck and PLEASE keep in mind the capabilities of a National Wildfire Prevention and Education Team as you work this “incident”.

49th Annual NFFS Committee Meeting in Massachusetts  2015 

49^th Annual

Northeast Forest Fire Supervisors Committee Meeting

June 15 – 19, 2015

Holiday Inn Boston/Dedham Conference Center

Dedham, MA

Fire Management in the 21^st Century: 

Working Toward Common Goals

AGENDA

Monday, June 15, 2015

TRAVEL DAY

0900 - 1700 Registration                

1000 - 1700 Eastern Area Operations Working Team (If needed)

1000 - 1700 NE Training Working Team (If needed)

1200 -1300 Lunch (on your own) 

1300 - 1700 NAASF Fire Committee Leadership Team

1500 - 1530 Break

1800 Dinner (on your own)

1830 -  2230 Hospitality room open

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

0700 - 0900 Registration 

0800 Northeast Fire Supervisors Committee Meeting 

0800 -  0815 Call Meeting to Order/ Introductions Dave Celino, MA, Chair

        Housekeeping                                         MA Incident Mgt. Team

 0815 - 0845 Welcome                                       Peter Church,  State Forester

 0845-  1000 NASF Fire Committee Report            Dan Smith, NASF

1000 - 1030 Break with vendors

1030 – 1040 (2) Vendor Spots  

1030 -  1200 Fire Technology Update Keith Smith, NASF

1200 - 1300 Lunch  

1300 - 1310  (2) Vendor Spots          

1315 -  1400  Wildland Fire Reporting- Integrating State, Fed., Local Karen Short, USFS, MT

1400 -  1415  Southern Fire Chiefs Update Southern Group Rep

1415 -  1430 Western Fire Managers Update Western Group Rep

1430 -  1500 VFA  Funding Allocation Formula,   Winnie Owens, NA

          NA National and Regional                  Owen Martin, 
1500 - 1530 Break with vendors

1530 – 1540 (2) Vendors Spots

1540 –  1615 UAS Update and NASAC Dan Zimmerman/Bill Edwards

1615 -  1700 Review / Discussion of Issue Papers Dave Celino, Chair

1800 - 2000 Ice Breaker / Social         All

2000  - Dinner (on your own)

2000  - 2230 Hospitality room open

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

0800           Northeast Forest Fire Supervisors Committee Meeting     

0800 - 0810  Housekeeping         MA IMT

0810 - 0900 USFS Northeastern Area Update / NA Reports Owen Martin, USFS NA

0900 - 0930 WRR, NA Grants, NFFPC Grant Audit(Parent) Maris Gabliks, USFS

0930 - 1000 Eastern Area Coordination Center - Update Laura McIntyre Kelly, USFS

1000 -1030 Break with vendors 

1030 –1040 (2) Vendors Spots

1030 - 1100 Mashpee MA – An Example of Community Joel Carlson, NE Forest Mgmt

                  Fire Management

1100 – 1200 Cohesive Strategy Briefing; Brad Simpkins, NH

                                                                   Owen Martin, USFS, NA

                                                                   Larry Mastic

1200 – 1245 Lunch

1245 -  1300 Board Bus for Field Day                                                                    

1300 -  1700 Field Tour

1700 -  1715 Return Bus to Hotel   

1800 - 2130 Banquet and Awards Ceremony    

2130 -  2230 Hospitality room open

Thursday, June 18, 2015

0800            Northeast Forest Fire Supervisors Committee Meeting

0800 - 0810   Housekeeping                             MA IMT

0810 - 0830 NAASF Report                             Ian MacFarlane, NAASF

0830 - 1000 NFFS Committee Business Meeting Dave Celino, Chair

1000 -1030 Break with Vendors

1030 –1040 (3) Vendor Spots

1030 - 1200 NFFS Committee Business Meeting Dave Celino, Chair

1200 -1300   Lunch

1300 –1340 (3) Vendor Spots

1300 - 1330 Complex Incident Mgmt Course Paul Kollmeyer, MI

                                                                   Rich Schenk, CT

1330- 1345 NE Compact Forest Health Committee Tom Parent, NE Compact

1345 - 1415 NFPA – program Update                     Michelle Steinberg, NFPA

1415 - 1445 NFFS 50^th Anniversary Project/Meeting Update    Gabliks/Dillon, USFS, NA

1445 - 1515 Closing Business

1515 2015 NFFS Meeting Ends

1530 - 1630 NFFS Committee Leadership Team Meeting Dave Celino, Chair

1730          Dinner (on your own)

1830 - 2230 Hospitality room open

Friday, June 19, 2015  TRAVEL DAY – return home

NFFPC's PREVENTION EDUCATION TEAM 
continues SPB Battle on Long Island 

SOUTHERN PINE BEETLE  
      LONG ISLAND PINE BARRENS     

Team Members

• Fred Turck Team Leader    Virgina Department of Forestry 
• Kent Nelson Team Leader (T) Maine Forest Service Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry     
• Kara McCurdy Team Member Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources
• David Russell Team Member NY Department of Environmental ConservationDepartment of Forestry

• The WFPET was deployed on June 7, 2015 and was assigned to be working out of the Suffolk County Fire Training Academy in Yaphank NY located on Long Island. Funding for the team was provided by the North East Forest Fire Compact and the Mid-Atlantic Forest Fire Compact. Several NY DEC employees were assigned to the team as liaisons and subject matter experts. Bill Fonda, Rob Cole, Jessica Cancelliere and John Wernet were primary points of contact.  

• NFFPC / MA_BFFC_PC   FPET Daily reports for

Wednesday, June 10

Continued work on 
Fact sheets:

• What You Should Know As A Visitor
• What Homeowners Need To Know
• Wildfire Preparedness And Response
• Strategies For Successful And Control And Prevention

Talking Points

Pitch Tubes on WP 

Met with Bill Fonda(DEC), Anne McIntyre (Parks) and other key staff members at Connetquot River State Park about their SPB outbreak. Visited several spots, interesting to note that it was NOT just Pitch Pine being impacted but White Pine and Norway Spruce. Areas along trails that are utilized by anglers is a concern from the safety of those utilizing these trails. The Pitch Pine was more of a pocket of a couple dozen trees where the White Pine and Spruce were more single trees near the visitor center.

Library for social media tweets / posts.

Pitch Pine Spot

Completed the Coloring/Activity Book for children.

Developed several mini-posters  
sample        





Tomorrow will mostly be an office day as it will be the last full day with the 3 remaining Team members, Turck, McCurdy and Nelson. A mini-close-out is planned with Bill Fonda for late in the afternoon.

FIRE PREVENTION EDUCATION TEAM is on Long Island  
working on the SPB infestation

SOUTHERN PINE BEETLE         LONG ISLAND PINE BARRENS     

Team Members:

• Fred Turck Team Leader ... Virginia Department of Forestry Conservation 
• Kent Nelson Team Leader (T) Maine Forest Service
• Kara McCurdy Team Member Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources
• David Russell Team Member NY Department of Environmental Conservation (from home station)
• Roxanne Savoie Team Member MA Department of Conservation and Recreation Bureau of Fire Control (from home station)

The WFPET was deployed on June 7, 2015 and was assigned to be working out of the Suffolk County Fire Training Academy in Yaphank NY located on Long Island. Funding for the team was provided by the North East Forest Fire Compact and the Mid-Atlantic Forest Fire Compact. Several NY DEC employees were assigned to the team as liaisons and subject matter experts. Bill Fonda, Rob Cole, Jessica Cancelliere and John Wernet were primary points of contact.

NFFPC / MA_BFFC   FPET Daily reports for mobilization to Long Island, NY   June 2015

Monday, June 8

Met with DEC’s Bill Fonda and set up working space at the Suffolk County Fire Training Facility.

Attended meeting with Dick Amper (Long Island Pine Barrens Society) and John Pavacic (Central Pine Barrens Commission) to get their perspective and background info on the SPB infestation / preserving pine barrens on Long Island.

Participated in the SPB media event at Rocky Point State Pine Barrens Preserve. CH 12 CBS andFOX and CH 2 covered the newstory.

Discussion and field tour of treated pitch pine areas in the Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge and the National Park Service’s William Floyd Estate.

Returned to work space in Yaphank and began formulating outreach ideas, target audiences and recommendations for a multi-agency approach. Those Organizations/Agencies identified as critical partners were the State DEC-Foresrty, Suffolk and Nassau Counties, The Pine Barrens Commission, The Long Island Pine Barrens Society, USFWS, NPS, various Towns and State Parks.

Tuesday, June 9

Met with DEC representatives and prioritized tasks / outreach products. Below is a list of those tasks and prioritized by the host along with team member assignments.

Tasks

• Best Management Practises (One Pagers)
• Fire Departments – Greg
• Homeowners – Fred
• Tourists/Parks – Kara
• DEC Management strategy, but incorporate the interagency management practises and education – Greg/Kent
• Social Media – electronic messaging – Library posts – ALL
• Info-Graphic – Pine Beetle – Kara
• Talking Points for Field Staff – Fred
• Canned PSA – Kent
• Slogans – ie Protecting your investments – ALL
  Powerpoint – Why would anybody cut a tree ( Kids) – Agency Education – Fred
• Press Releases
• Powerpoint for adults on SPB – Already Developed by DEC

Started producing products using DEC templates.

MASSACHUSETTS WILDFIRE CREW 
               2015 Annual Crew Refresher training this weekend at 
                             Wachusett Mountain State Forest 
              "in preparation for National Deployments this summer"

#FF Last year's ANNUAL FIREFIGHTER REFRESHER COURSE 
Wachusett Mountain State Reservation - Princeton, MA - 2014

Volunteer Fire Assistance applications due June 12, 2015  
2015 VFA Application 

EARNING ITS KEEP ~ just business as usual for State Forestry unit 8-5 

State_DCR Fire District 8's 1964 Dodge Power Wagon hard at work at the May 22 Leominster fire on city conservation land:

The DEVIL'S PULPIT FIRE located on city watershed property burned 28 acres over several days before containment.  Accessible only by foot or ATV, state firefighters set up the Otter River State Forest based forestry unit (8-5) at the Fall Brook Reservoir.  

8-5 supplied water to crews manning 3 separate hose lines with a 4th line used to fill local units and ATV/UTV  tanks.  

Pumps on the Unit used on this fire:  

BB4 used to feed 2 hose lines (1.5" and a 1") laid into the fire; 

Mark III pump fed hose line to another section of the fire;  

Floto pump used for 8-5 tank feed (bypassing a temporary drafting issue); line acting as a relief valve back to the reservoir and a line to fill local units and ATV/UTVs

OUTLOOK FIRE ~ LYNN WOODS ~ Conservation Area ~ Lynn   May 29 update
Final update unless significant events warrant

fire is now in monitor status 

DCR District 5 Warden out of Bradley Palmer State Park reports the fire is at 95% containment until it is determined that the perimeter is totally secure from any potential escape

total acreage is mapped at 50 acres and not expected to change

kudos to MA_DCR  District 5 wildfire personnel for their innovative approach while assisting the Lynn Fire Department with management of this fire by bringing containment without taxing resources, damaging equipment, or compromising firefighter safety as they worked toward suppression completion

OUTLOOK FIRE / LYNN WOODS / LYNN update May 26 

• Lynn Fire Department 
• remote fire in the Lynn Woods Conservation Area
• Because of difficult access and no values at risk, strategy has been to monitor the fire and allow it to burn out to a previously burned area, water and a fire access road
• DCR is assisting with monitoring and advising

HEMENWAY HILL FIRE  / Milton
Blue Hills Reservation  -  May 26 update

• Burnout operation on Monday has held the fire in place along existing trails along the south, west and north flanks of the fire.  

• Aggressive mop up has eliminated most of the heat in the northeast corner, north of the Skyline trail.  

• Fire behavior is now minimal smoldering interior.  

• Fire will be monitored for the next several days. 

• Final update unless significant events warrant. 

    for more about the Blue Hills Reservation