A Westport man has returned home safely after helping battle some of the most intense fires in the world.

Westport Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Kronick is part of the Connecticut Wildfire Crew. He's had a certification to fight wildfires for the past 11 years.

He spent the last few weeks in Colorado working to slow a 700-acre wildfire and a mountain fire that both grew out of lightning strikes.

Kronick says he worked 16-hour days on the front lines. Crews contained both fires.

"It's kind of like playing chess -- it's not a quick game, it's a long game," he says. "It may take days, weeks, months to contain some of these fires, and it's slow, methodical movements to contain some of these fires."

Kronick says he hopes to return to the West when time allows. Another member of his department departed for there Wednesday.