The Delaware Forest Service has dispatched a Type 6 engine and crew to the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina. The unit will provide resource and readiness capability as a combination of drought, fuel moisture, and weather conditions have created above average potential for increased wildfire activity across the Southern Region. Delaware’s crew consists of Sam Topper of Maryland, a senior forester with the Delaware Forest Service, and Adam N. Keever of Newark, a conservation technician with DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation.
This is the first assignment of 2019 for the Delaware engine crew. In 2018, the Delaware Forest Service dispatched a Type 6 engine to battle California’s Ferguson Fire, which caused two fatalities and burned almost 97,000 acres in the Sierra National Forest and Yosemite National Park.