21 Maine, New Hampshire Firefighters Helping to Battle Blazes in Quebec, Canada

BANGOR, Maine (AP) -- Twenty-one Maine and New Hampshire firefighters are in Quebec to battle some of the forest fires raging in the Canadian province.

Arnold Martin of the Maine Forest Service is leading the Maine contingent that arrived Sunday morning in Quebec. On Monday, they received additional gear and additional training, including how to jump out of helicopters near burning sites.

Martin's crew includes 19 other firefighters from Maine and one from New Hampshire. Martin and three others are bilingual, speaking both French and English.

Martin said spirits were good for the Maine firefighters, who were still awaiting transfer to the scene of the fires to the north.

''Even here, visibility is very poor. We could not land here with aircraft and we had to be bused from three hours away,'' he said.

Dozens of fires have been spotted about 100 miles north of the St. Lawrence River. The fires have been burning out of control for days.

On Monday, a Canadian military transport plane evacuated 92 people from a northern Quebec community threatened by forest fire.

Smoke from the fires has drifted over several Maine communities. The Maine Forest Service has received scores of calls from concerned citizens as far east as Washington County who reported smelling and seeing smoke.

Jim Downie of the Maine Forest Service said that when Maine was experiencing mostly rain in May, much of Quebec remained dry. Lightning caused most of the fires that were burning this week.

Maine is a founding member of the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission, which combines the resources of all New England states, New York, and the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Bill Williams, director of Maine Forest Protection Division of the Maine Forest Service, said additional requests for manpower and equipment could come if weather conditions remain the same in northern Quebec.

Information from: Bangor Daily News