Nearly a dozen state wildland firefighters are heading to Quebec to battle some of the more than 124 wildfires that have burned since the start of June.
The out-of-control wildfires have wreaked havoc on Canada, and the smoke from the wildfires has impacted the air quality across Massachusetts and along the East Coast.
Gov. Maura Healey and other officials on Thursday sent off the 11 firefighters at the state Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Bureau of Forestry and Fire Control headquarters in Carlisle.
“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,” Healey said.
“We are proud of these 11 Massachusetts wildland firefighters who are heading up to assist our Canadian partners in battling these intense wildfires,” the governor added.
Last week, DCR received a firefighter deployment request from the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission and the Northeastern Interagency Coordination Center at the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.
The firefighters will travel to La Tuque in Quebec, where they will be assigned to one of the many ongoing fire incidents throughout the province.
The crew, which is also referred to as a “Wildfire Suppression Module,” will help with direct fire suppression, working on the fire line for about 14 days — building fire breaks, securing fire perimeters, containing fires, and protecting structures.
The Quebec situation is just the latest in an ongoing wildfire issue across Canada this year, including in British Columbia, Alberta, and most recently Nova Scotia. The fires have sparked major smoke impacts across the Northeast.
Rising temperatures and drier conditions due to climate change are fueling increased fire activity, making wildfires over the last few years more extreme and active than in the past. So far this year in Massachusetts, more than 820 wildfires have burned 1,500 acres.
The 11 firefighters heading to Quebec are federally certified, having passed a 40-hour federal wildland firefighting class and physical fitness test.
The responding DCR firefighters are: Benjamin Jennell of West Newbury; Robert Armstrong of Conway; George Kleczka of Plainville; James Kontoules of Salem; Eryn Donohoe of Sagamore Beach; Charles Uchendu of Oak Bluffs; Jacob O’Donnell of Millis; Anders Anderson of Carver; Derick Valovcin of Holliston; Tyler Desautels of Millbury; and Alex Desrochers of Plymouth.