Connecticut firefighters load their gear onto a bus as they began their trip to help suppress fires in Quebec, Canada, on June 15. Photo: Andy Zaremba
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent 13 firefighters to Quebec, Canada on June 15 to assist the province with their wildfires.
Connecticut is a charter member of the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact. This compact, formed in 1949 is a mutual aid organization between the New England States, New York and four eastern Canadian Provinces. Members of the Compact train together and their equipment standards and capabilities are interchangeable.
The DEP firefighters were bused early Tuesday morning from the DEP’s Eastern District Headquarters in Marlborough to Manchester, N.H. where they met other firefighters from New Hampshire and then boarded a charter jet being provided by the government of Quebec.
My husband is one of the ones from New Hampshire. I wish everyone a safe return.