{"id":32666,"date":"2021-02-23T10:59:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T15:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=32666"},"modified":"2021-02-24T22:08:47","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T03:08:47","slug":"maryland-wildland-firefighters-honored-for-exemplary-efforts-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2021\/02\/23\/maryland-wildland-firefighters-honored-for-exemplary-efforts-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Wildland Firefighters Honored for Exemplary Efforts in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Governor Hogan Addresses DNR Crews That Battled Fires in 11 States<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Maryland’s wildland firefighter crews were deployed to Six Rivers National Forest in Northern California in October 2020. Maryland DNR photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Maryland\u2019s wildland firefighters who served on interagency crews nationwide through the busy and challenging 2020 wildfire season were honored recently in a virtual recognition event. Governor Larry Hogan addressed the firefighters with a recorded greeting<\/a> and Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio presented the firefighters with a departmental citation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, 65 Maryland fire crew members participated in 103 assignments, working on 28 different incidents in 11 states. The 2020 Interagency Wildfire Season began early in the year, with new protocols developed to\u00a0 mobilize firefighters in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Crews also served an exceptionally long season, serving in deployments as late as November.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou worked long hours, spent weeks away from your loved ones, braved extremely dangerous conditions, and truly risked life and limb to save lives, homes, and precious natural resources,\u201d Governor Hogan said. \u201cWhen our fellow Americans face unthinkable natural disasters, Maryland stands ready to come to their aid \u2026 thanks to your bravery and dedication.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Interagency Wildland Firefighters are mobilized through the state\u2019s <\/span>interagency agreement<\/a> with the U.S. Forest Service, in which multiple states\u2019 personnel and resources deploy to wildfire incidents across the country as needed. In 2020 they included the Maryland Forest Service fire management team, a mobilization\/demobilization team, firefighter modules and crews, engine and dozer operators, and single resources, who are individuals with specific skills who serve in both overhead and support functions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an extraordinarily long and tough wildfire season with over 58,000 wildfire incidents across the United States, but you rose to the occasion,\u201d said Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio. \u201cIn fact many times you were deployed for so long that we had to switch out crews to give you respite. While many of us were working from the comfort of our homes, you were battling the elements to protect our nation\u2019s natural resources.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Maryland Department of Natural Resources begins preparing for the 2021 wildfire season, they are also being called upon to assist with the nation\u2019s response to COVID and the need to expedite vaccinations. For 2021, Maryland\u2019s interagency team has already received its first mobilization request from the U.S. Forest Service, and will send two EMT-certified individuals to Delaware to support a COVID vaccination center at Dover International Speedway<\/span><\/p>\n

Maryland Department of Natural Resources staff comprise the majority of those deployed — in 2020 they included 30 employees from the Maryland Forest Service, 14 from the Maryland Park Service, and one staff member from Fishing and Boating Services. In addition, members of Volunteer Fire Departments, retired DNR staff members, an employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and others comprised the team.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the 2020 wildfire season, Maryland interagency team members were deployed to Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Interagency Wildfire team for 2020 included the following individuals, along with their home county:<\/span><\/p>\n

DNR-Maryland Forest Service:
<\/b>Justin Arseneault, Anne Arundel
<\/span>Chip Broadwater, Caroline
<\/span>Lance Carroll, Worcester
<\/span>Sergio Castillo, Worcester
<\/span>Aaron Cook, Franklin (Pa.)
<\/span>Dakota Durcho, Frederick
<\/span>Jeramie Foy, Garrett
<\/span>Patrick Gates, Preston (W. Va.)
<\/span>Jim Harris, Caroline
<\/span>Matthew Hurd, Wicomico
<\/span>Michael Johnson Jr., Somerset (Pa.)
<\/span>Randy Kamp, Garrett
<\/span>Andrew Kirk, Cecil
<\/span>Dan Lewis, Carroll
<\/span>Lucas Marcek, Wicomico
<\/span>Sue Mahanes, Harford
<\/span>Tyler McKee, Prince George’s
<\/span>Adam Miller, Allegany
<\/span>Sean Nolan, Garrett
<\/span>William Parler III, Garrett
<\/span>Chris Robertson, Dorchester
<\/span>Tim Ryan, Baltimore
<\/span>Travis Sanders, Preston (W. Va.)
<\/span>Collin Sapp, Calvert
<\/span>Chris Smith, Harford
<\/span>Matthew Spiroff, Baltimore
<\/span>Brian Stupak, Calvert
<\/span>Jamie Weaver, Montgomery
<\/span>Shannon Wolfe, St. Mary’s
<\/span>Dennis Yoder, Garrett<\/span><\/p>\n

DNR-Maryland Park Service:
<\/b>Catherine Donley, St. Mary’s
<\/span>John Green, Calvert
<\/span>Brett Hendershot, Washington
<\/span>Marc Heim, Worcester
<\/span>Michael Hyde, Howard
<\/span>Andres Lombardi, Baltimore
<\/span>Lucas Mongrain, Garrett
<\/span>Tyler Morris, Anne Arundel
<\/span>John Ohler, Talbot
<\/span>Riley Schwertz, Calvert
<\/span>Andres Sipe, Cecil
<\/span>Adam Stachowiak, Garrett
<\/span>Kenneth Stanton, Baltimore
<\/span>Wayne Suydam Jr., Cecil<\/span><\/p>\n

DNR-Fishing and Boating Services
<\/b>Chris Ruark, Dorchester<\/span><\/p>\n

DNR-Retired
<\/b>Monte Mitchell, Caroline
<\/span>Kevin Moore, Washington
<\/span>Louise Upole, Garrett<\/span><\/p>\n

Non-DNR Personnel
<\/b>Sean Connelly, Washington
<\/span>Jamey Coombs, St. Mary’s
<\/span>Elizabeth Czaplicki, Baltimore
<\/span>Todd Dudek, Wicomico
<\/span>Daniel Garnand, Washington
<\/span>Seth Garnand, Washington
<\/span>Alex Hardy (USFWS), Dorchester
<\/span>Nathan Hauser, Montgomery
<\/span>Elizabeth Houser, Washington
<\/span>Shaun Jones, Frederick
<\/span>Robert Lauchner, Frederick
<\/span>Nathan Markline, Anne Arundel
<\/span>Bambi Nelms (EMT), Howard
<\/span>Michael Riley, Worcester
<\/span>Britney Tatters, Washington
<\/span>Albert Wagner, Wicomico<\/span><\/p>\n

Maryland\u2019s wildland firefighting teams are led by Maryland Forest Service State Fire Supervisor Chris Robertson and Fire Managers Randy Kamp and Chris Smith. Katie Garst is logistics coordinator, managing mobilization and demobilization out of the Madonna Fire Center in Harford County.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During 2020, other members of the Forest Service mobilization\/demobilization team were:<\/span><\/p>\n

Andrew Amoruso, Lance Carroll, Shawn Day, George Dulina, William Parler III, Tim Ryan, Ryan Wetzel, and Gilbert Wagner.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Maryland, the Forest Service responds to an average of 200 wildfires per year that burn about 2,200 acres. These incidents are typically larger than fires in the urban areas and often require specialized equipment and tactics to contain and control. Maryland\u2019s busiest wildfires seasons typically occur in the spring and fall.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Governor Hogan Addresses DNR Crews That Battled Fires in 11 States Maryland\u2019s wildland firefighters who served on interagency crews nationwide through the busy and challenging 2020 wildfire season were honored recently in a virtual recognition event. Governor Larry Hogan addressed the firefighters with a recorded greeting and Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,1965],"tags":[4035,2952,4994,5205,3329,3024,3834],"class_list":["post-32666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-maryland-forest-service","tag-jeannie-haddaway-riccio","tag-larry-hogan","tag-maryland-forest-service","tag-maryland-park-service","tag-u-s-forest-service","tag-wildfire","tag-wildland-fires"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32666"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32682,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32666\/revisions\/32682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}