(KNSI) – Minnesota is sending firefighters to the Great White North to help bring a rash of fires across the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario under control.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division Information Officer Leanne Langeberg explained to KNSI News there is a mutual aid agreement in place between the provinces, plus the states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. “With that, any of those partners can reach out to the other partners when they are experiencing shortness in their staffing and need a little additional help. And that’s what’s happened here, most recently.”
Langeberg says Minnesota requested mutual aid in 2021 during an active fire season in the northern part of the state.
Langeberg talks about how long the group could be gone. “We typically prepare for a 14-day assignment and that means that we’re assigned to a fire up to 14 days, provided that there’s a need.”
Sometimes weather conditions change dramatically while a fire is still raging. Rainfall or calm winds can help bring the flames under control more quickly.
The firefighters being sent are specialized year-long employees. The DNR also hires seasonal “smoke chasers.” They serve in a variety of capacities, from work on the ground to logistics and air support.
NASA and the United States Forest Service maintain the Fire Information for Resource Management System. It shows zero active fires over a thousand acres in the northern U.S., while Manitoba and Ontario currently have dozens. Alberta, Quebec, and Saskatchewan are also heavily affected. Smoke from those fires has caused Minnesota to declare over 20 air quality alerts already this year.
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