Massachusetts firefighters heading to Minnesota to battle wildfires

Massachusetts is sending a team of wildland firefighters to Minnesota to help battle a series of wildfires that have contributed to poor air quality across New England.

Gov. Maura Healey announced Friday that a 10-person crew from the Department of Conservation and Recreation and MassWildlife will deploy this weekend to assist with firefighting efforts near the Canadian border.

The firefighters will spend about two weeks helping contain fires, building fire breaks, securing fire perimeters, and protecting homes and other structures.

Smoke from the Minnesota and Canadian wildfires has drifted into Massachusetts in recent weeks, prompting air quality concerns and creating hazy skies across the region.

“Massachusetts is proud to stand with our partners across the country and Canada to combat rising wildfires,” Healey said in a statement.

State officials said the crew is made up of specially trained, federally qualified wildland firefighters from communities across Massachusetts, including Braintree, Franklin, Groton, Millville, Webster, Westport, Worcester, and Pelham.

Massachusetts firefighters have responded to major wildfires across the U.S. and Canada for decades, including a deployment to Alaska last year.

The firefighters responding are down below:

Name	Home	Agency
Liard, Jr. Roy J	Millville	DCR
Mayer, Brian J	Groton	DCR
Mazzei, Benjamin A	Pelham	MassWildlife
Nash, Declan A	Groton	DCR
Nawrocki, Joseph P	New Salem	DCR
Huling, Christopher W	Braintree	DCR
Arrington, Brady S	Westport	DCR
Consolmagno, Glen J	Franklin	DCR
Holm, Riley P	Worcester	DCR
Poitras, Zachary A	Webster	DCR
Smeaton, Cody S	Westport	DCR