Unusually dry, windy conditions means more brush fires in Eastern CT
It’s been a busy week for Eastern Connecticut firefighters as unusually hot weather, coupled with strong winds and kindling-dry ground conditions, have led to the ignition of brush fires in at least a half dozen local towns and cities.
Fire crews from Norwich and Plainfield to Thompson and Windham were called out in recent days for brush fires that have ranged in size and intensity from smaller spot blazes to a combined 6-acre fire in Norwich that took crews nearly three hours to extinguish.
The state typically experiences high springtime forest fire danger levels from March 15 to May 15, said Rich Schenk, eastern region fire control officer for the forestry division of the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, or DEEP.
Current conditions ideal for fire to spread
He said the current fire conditions are a result of a drier-than-usual layer of fine fuels on the ground, strong winds and a lack of rain – all occurring just as trees are “waking up.”
“As the leaves start poking out, the trees are drinking moisture out of the soil, which did not see a lot of snow over the winter,” Schenk said. “That all affects those fine fuels that help carry the kinds of fires we’re seeing this week. Throw in the dry conditions and wind and you get larger fires that can spread quickly.”
To alert residents to current conditions, DEEP issues daily advisories using an index to classify fire danger levels as low, moderate, high, very high or extreme.
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For several days this week, conditions were listed as “very high,” meaning the chances of a fire spreading are high, based on wind, relative humidity and precipitation conditions.
Members of the Plainfield Fire Co. #1, one of the town’s volunteer departments, were called out to assist with two brush fires this week, one in Moosup and another in Rhode Island, Chief Travis Irons said.
Irons said it’s not unusual to see so many brush fires this time of year thanks to accumulated leaf litter, low humidity and a lack of new green growth. He said such blazes are typically sparked by the careless disposal of smoking materials or residents not taking enough care when conducting an open burn on their properties.
“Everyone wants to clean up their yards this time of year, but that kind of burning requires a permit from a local fire marshal,” he said. “In addition, they need to contact a dispatcher and verify the fire conditions don’t prohibit an open burn on a particular day.”
Schenk added that the improper disposal of fireplace and woodstove ash is also a frequent sparker of brush fires.
“Those ashes can stay hot for a week,” he said.
Brush fires can be hard to find, reach
The challenges involved in fighting a brush fire can begin even before a firefighter encounters flames, Irons said. If the fire ignites near a road or home, it can be relatively easy to reach.
“But if it happens in the middle of a state forest, you’re looking for columns of smoke,” he said. “Luckily, there’s been technological improvements. The Voluntown department last year used a drone to locate a fire and then hiked in to fight it.”
Irons said some departments, like his, are using utility task vehicles, or UTVs, to reach and battle fires. The “gator” vehicles, souped-up versions similar to an ATV, can be equipped with a 60-gallon water tank and hose reel so firefighters can drive up to a fire and start dousing it.
In addition to the state fire-danger notices, the National Weather Service can issue a “red flag” warning when critical fire weather conditions are either occurring at the time or are expected to rise to level soon.
The state is still in the “cured” stage, or a time of year when any lingering snow has melted, trees are bare and forest fuels – twigs, grasses, leaves - are getting heated by sunshine. It's also a time when winds kick-up and transform spot fires into blazes that race along topography.
After a relatively mild winter – at least by Connecticut standards – the state this week saw temperatures spike into the high 80s, further elevating the fire danger in wooded areas.
Mohegan Park fire
At approximately 12:30 p.m. on April 10, the Norwich Fire Department was dispatched to Mohegan Park for a report of multiple brush fires, including a fast-moving one near a beach parking lot.
“Both fires were in remote areas with sloping topography and a thick ground cover that led (to a) fast moving fire spread,” Battalion Chief Marc Benjamin said in a press statement.
By the time the firefighting operation ended three hours later, crews from nine departments had sent more than 10,000 gallons of water streaming onto the flames which burned an estimated six acres of ground. That fire is under investigation by the city’s fire marshal.
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Brush fires are fought using direct or indirect methods, In the direct model, a firefighter, sometimes equipped with a back-pack bladder full of water, hikes up a fire and begins dousing it. The direct method can also call for stamping out fire spots.
Indirect firefighting can mean raking away ground debris ahead of a fire to starve it of fuel, a method that can be effective under certain circumstances.
“As long as you don’t have embers jumping past that cleared line,” Irons said.
How long will brush fire danger last?
Schenk, who also serves as chief of the Hampton Fire Company, said high fire levels will stick around until the region gets a good dose of saturating rain and fresh leaves appear. The National Weather Service is predicting a chance of showers from Saturday through Monday.
“But if we don’t get a lot, we could be right back up to those same very high fire conditions on Tuesday,” he said. “It’s often not until mid-May, when the leaves are out, that we see a lot of improvement, depending on the amount of rain.”
John Penney can be reached at jpenney@norwichbulletin.com or at (860) 857-6965
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: High fire danger levels in state blamed on overly dry ground, winds
