For Release: Monday, August 3, 2009

DEC Forest Rangers Dispatched to Alaska to Help Fight Wildfires

20-person Crew Leaves For Fairbanks, Alaska, to Help Control Wildfires

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced that eight DEC Forest Rangers and 12 DEC volunteer/employees left today for Alaska to help combat raging wildfires.

"New York's Forest Rangers are among the most highly trained, professional wildfire fighting teams," said Grannis. "DEC Rangers have a long history and impressive record assisting neighboring states in controlling large scale and dangerous wildfires and will be a tremendous asset in the fight to control the spread of the wildfires in Alaska."

The firefighters are being dispatched through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Forest Service. This agreement allows for the sharing and dispatching of firefighters throughout the country.

The 20-person New York State wildland firefighting crew departed from the DEC Forest Ranger Fire Cache in Saratoga, NY, by bus early Monday morning, Aug. 3. The first stop is in Manchester, NH, where they are expected to meet with four other crews from various eastern area states. Together, they will fly to Fairbanks, Alaska where they are expected to spend 14 days fighting one of several ongoing fires in what's known as the Crazy Mountain Complex. Hundreds of firefighters from around the country are being brought in to battle the fires, with some assigned to the Railbelt Complex. Cumulatively, the fires already have consumed hundreds of thousands of acres in the Railbelt and Crazy Mountain complexes.

Forest Rangers and wildland firefighters dispatched to Alaska are:

Crew Boss Forest Ranger Scott Jackson (Central NY)
Crew Boss Trainee Forest Ranger Arthur Perryman (Northeast/Adirondacks NY)
Squad Boss Forest Ranger Martin Flanagan (Western NY)
Squad Boss Forest Ranger Adam Pickett (Northern/Central NY)
Squad Boss Forest Ranger Joseph Hess (Capital District)
Forest Ranger Gary Miller (Hudson Valley Region)
Forest Ranger Benjamin Baldwin (Hudson Valley Region)
Forest Ranger Kevin Slade (LI Region)
DEC Volunteer Eric Kasza (Capital District)
DEC Volunteer Steven Brown (Capital District)
DEC Volunteer Kraig Senter (Capital District)
DEC Volunteer Donald Nelson (Central NY)
DEC Volunteer Harry McDaniel (Central NY)
DEC Volunteer Matthew Manning (Northern/Central NY)
DEC Volunteer James Canevari (Northern/Central NY)
DEC Volunteer Jerry Eaves (Northern/Central NY)
DEC Volunteer Aaron Graves (Northern/Central NY)
DEC Volunteer Anthony Leung (LI Region)
DEC Volunteer Joseph Pries (LI Region)
DEC Volunteer Paul Giachetti (Western NY)