A 10-person group of trained wildland firefighters have returned to Connecticut after spending the last several weeks assisting with wildfire response in northern California. The group includes Jeremy Johnson of Roxbury.  The four full-time DEEP employees and one full-time employee from Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management, were joined by five “administratively determined” members-- private individuals who are temporary federal hires while on assignment. They left Connecticut September 4th.  DEEP maintains a roster of agency staff members and personnel who have been certified to fight forest or wildfires.  Crew members must complete a rigorous training program and participate in an annual physical work capacity test and refresher training.  All state agency expenses directly associated with these deployments are 100% reimbursed by the U.S. Forest Service. This group is the second group of Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew firefighters Connecticut has sent this season- another group of ten was deployed in late July to assist with wildfire response in California.