Man suffers burns in Hinsdale brush fire
May 11—HINSDALE — A man was taken to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital on Tuesday after suffering burns in a brush fire on Route 119, according to Hinsdale Fire Chief Terry Zavorotny.
Daniel Hitchcock, 50, of Lake Luzerne, N.Y., suffered non-life-threatening burns in the fire, Hinsdale Police Chief Charles Rataj said Tuesday night.
Early that afternoon, near the intersection with Starting Gate Lane, Hitchcock had been smoking outside when the cigarette fell from his mouth and landed on dry leaves, Zavorotny said. The man tried to put the fire out himself, but it quickly grew and burned his legs, according to Zavorotny.
The fire scorched about 2 acres of land, Zavorotny said, and took about two hours to get under control.
Rataj said police are investigating.
In a Twitter post, the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands said the National Weather Service issued a fire-weather warning for southern New Hampshire on Tuesday. Such a warning is meant to alert firefighting agencies to conditions that can cause fires to start and spread quickly, according to the division's website. The preceding few days also posed a high risk of fire danger, the division said.
Molly Bolan can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436 or mbolan@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @BolanMolly.
