Gov. Maura Healey and administration officials sent 11 state wildland firefighters to Quebec to help with the wildfires that have burned in Canada since the beginning of June and have affected the air quality in the northeast United States.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation received a request for assistance last week from the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission and the Northeastern Interagency Coordination Center at the White Mountain National Forest in Campton, New Hampshire.
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"Over the last several years we have seen the impacts of the climate crisis here at home and around the world, in the forms of extreme weather and increasingly severe wildfires that continue to ravage our forests," said Healey.
The firefighters will travel to the area of La Touque and will be assigned to battle one of the many ongoing fires.
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“We feel the effects of the climate crisis every day from the extreme heat to droughts to the smoke polluting our air,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.
Fire season has lasted longer and has been more severe due to rising temperatures, drier conditions due to years long droughts, and a lack of rain and snowfall, all caused by climate change.
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These fires in Quebec have left part of the northeast under a cloud of smoke, most notably in New York City.
“DCR is committed to doing everything we can to protecting our natural lands for generations to come and today’s deployment of these 11 DCR firefighters to help our friends and partners in Quebec is part of that commitment,” said DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo.
