East Granby Firefighter Returning From Fighting Wildfire

East Granby firefighter Timothy Baird was scheduled to return home Wednesday from a two-week tour fighting wildfires in Montana as part of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's fire crew.

The 20-person crew left Connecticut August 13 for Lolo National Forest, Montana to help fight wildfires in the western part of that state. 

The crew went as part of a reciprocal aid program, in which states help each other in the event of a fire emergency. Members of the crew must complete rigorous training and annual renewal course for certification to fight forest and wildfires.

Firefighters from across the country and Canada and the Montana National Guard were deployed to fight the Montana fire, which closed highways, destroyed homes and burned nearly 11,000 acres, according to a news report. 

CT DEEP Members of Connecticut Fire Crew:

Jason Bjornberg                  Lyme

Timothy M. Baird               East Granby

Mark Blazejak                     Voluntown

Eric Gileau                            Preston

Christopher Kostopoulos   West Haven

Jeffrey Krukar                      Torrington

Thomas Nosal                      Middletown

Stacy Pappano                     Windsor

Thomas RisCassi                  Hartford

Richard Scalora                   Berlin

Michael Shaw                      Torrington

David Stygar                                    Lebanon

James Villwock                    Durham

Justin Wiggins                      Newington

Other members:

Ben Arnold                           Dayville

Anthony Flamio                   Farmington

Jacob Light                           Enfield

Sergio Liguori                       New Milford

Juan Sanchez, III                 Chaplin

Allan Waterman                 Moosup