Maryland Firefighters Headed To California To Battle Wildfires

MARYLAND — A 20-person crew of wildland firefighters from Maryland are en route to northern California to help battle the raging wildfires in that state. It's the first out-of-state deployment for the Maryland team so far this season.

According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the crew met at the Madonna Ranger Station in Harford County then joined four other crews from across the Mid-Atlantic region in Pennsylvania before heading to the staging area in Redding, Calif.

The crew, called MDS1, includes 15 representatives from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources – nine from the Maryland Forest Service, four from the Maryland Park Service (including one retired employee) and two from the Wildlife and Heritage Service. There are four crew members from volunteer fire companies and one is a former Maryland Conservation Corps member.

The department also is sending an employee to serve as a division supervisor at the Lime Fire in Klamath National Forest in northern California.