Twenty Maryland firefighters traveled to Jackpot, Nevada on Wednesday to combat a 63,000 acre wildfire on federal public lands.
The firefighters are working to contain the Eccles and West Basin brush and grass fires near the Bureau of Land Management’s Elko Field Office.
“As the wildfire situation intensifies nationally, critical resource shortages are beginning to occur in some areas,” said Monte Mitchell, MD DNR Forest Service State Fire Supervisor. “It is an honor for Maryland to be able to send firefighters to help combat the wildfire situation in those western states,”
The initial attack fire crew composed of 13 Maryland Department of Natural Resource (DNR) employees and 7 fire service personnel was dispatched through the Forest Services’ Interagency Wildfire Mobilization Program. The crew will be dispatched for 14 days.
Through a Cooperative Agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the MD DNR Forest Service provides trained firefighting experts to assist with the efforts to contain and control some of the largest wildfires in the nation. The Maryland DNR Forest Service has participated in mobilizing wildland firefighters for dispatch throughout the United States since 1974. For more information on Maryland DNR’s Interagency Wildland Fire Mobilization, visit www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/fire/mdfire.asp.