Firefighters from Missouri will be helping out with wildfires in Alaska. Mark Twain National Forest Fire Program Manager Jody Eberly told Missourinet five Missouri firefighters are on their way to help that region.
Eberly said the group will be serving in Alaska for two weeks at a time and go back as needed.
“We’ll probably have some more people that will be available to help with that effort all summer,” said Eberly.
She says they have firefighters that go wherever a need is.
“We are a part of a larger national effort,” said Eberly. “Each year we probably send several hundred people out to help on other wildfires. Most of the wildfires you see on the national news have several hundred to several thousand people helping. We can ramp up or ramp down depending upon the complexity and situation of each individual fire.”
A long hot dry spell has parched forests and tundras, causing high fire danger in the Alaska region. Approximately 2,000 personnel from that region and the lower 48 states are helping in Alaska where almost 200 fires are burning.