CT volunteers helping to contain Nova Scotia's largest wildfire

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Eight members of the Connecticut's Interstate Fire Crew are in Nova Scotia this week battling a wildfire using mostly handheld tools. The group could be there for up 16 days.

With the effects of Canada's severe wildfire season drifting into the Northeast and causing daily air quality alerts, eight Connecticut volunteers are in Nova Scotia helping to contain the largest recorded wildfire in the province's history.

Members of the Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew traveled more than 600 miles last week to Shelburne County, where the Canadian province's largest wildfire continues to burn.

The Connecticut firefighters have since been working long days with handheld tools to establish a perimeter around the fire and put out hot spots in the interior to prevent reignition.

"It's quite grueling," said Christopher Martin, state forester with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Technology plays a part in modern firefighting through the use of aerial surveillance with drones and infrared cameras, but there is no substitute for manpower, and that's exactly what Nova Scotia requested, Martin said.

Connecticut and Nova Scotia are members of the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission, a compact established in 1949 for the prevention and control of forest fires in the region. Connecticut was an original member, along with the other New England states and New York. The Canadian provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island have joined since the compact was formed.

The commission's executive director, Thomas Brady, said providing mutual aid like the Connecticut volunteers are doing, is why the compact was originally created. The Connecticut residents joined with nine others from New Hampshire, Maine and New York in Nova Scotia, Brady said.

When the request for help was made, the phone calls started going out, Martin said.

There are about 120 people in Connecticut with the proper training and certification to respond with the interstate fire team. They’re on standby, but it's not anyone's full-time job, Martin said.

Eight volunteers is enough considering they’re putting their personal lives on hold for up to 16 days, Martin said. In addition, there are the difficult working conditions — typically 10 to 12 hour days, but if structures are threatened, shifts can last an entire day, he said.

Both men said the fires this year have unusual aspects. They’ve started earlier and been larger than normal, an indication that such fires could become more frequent there in the future, Brady said.

According to Martin, fires at this time of year are typically only on the surface. A lack of rainfall this year has allowed the fires to burn deeper into the peat and duff built up in the forests, Martin said.

It's not practical to drive excavators deep into the forest, which is where the hand tools come in, Martin said. In some cases, roots under the ground catch fire as well and firefighters will leave the area believing the flames are out until suddenly they reemerge, he added.

As of Wednesday evening, the Nova Scotia fires were still considered uncontrolled, but Brady said they’re no longer responsible for most of the smoke that is choking the Northeast U.S.

A number of fires in Quebec are responsible, and the plan is to send another team of 10 volunteers there, according to Brady.

Brady said many of the fires that occur in Quebec are started by lightning, and are a natural part of the fire dependent ecosystem. They require attention if the flames get too close to hydroelectric or other manmade infrastructure, he said.