STOW – State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey said, “Early spring is often when firefighters in New England are busy fighting brush fires. As the season changes, the winds can be strong and unpredictable.” He added, “Please conduct open burning safely and watch the wind. Have a permit and to be ready to shut it down quickly if the weather changes.”
Drought Last Summer Led to Many Brush Fires
Early spring is usually a busy time for brush fires as people rush to conduct open burning before the season ends on May 1. It is also a windy time of the year as the weather pattern changes. The snow pack has melted, but the ground is only just starting to green up and there is plenty of dry vegetation and leaves from last year to serve as tinder. Low humidity combined with dry, hot and windy conditions make it perfect for brush fires to start and to get out of control, and hard for firefighters to contain. Last April was wet, but May started a 5-month period of unusually dry weather with below average rainfall. As a result, many brush and wildland fires kept firefighters busy across the state.
Brush Fires Tax Firefighting Resources
Brush fires are labor intensive and take a long time to bring under control. Multiple brush fires can severely tax a community’s firefighting resources. Prevention is the best approach.
- On March 9, 2020, at 12:47 p.m., the Bondsville Fire Department responded to a brush fire that started as an illegal burn. The homeowner did not pull a permit before starting to burn yard waste. The fire got out of control and burned 24 acres. Approximately 20 pieces of apparatus and 40-50 personnel responded to this fire. Two firefighters were injured at this fire.
- On March 9, 2020, at 1:22 p.m., the Sutton Fire Department was called to a brush fire in the woods. The fire burned for seven hours and consumed 35 acres.
- On June 21, 2020, at 7:30 a.m., the Southwick Fire Department responded to a 16-acre brush fire that lasted 11 hours. A day later on June 22, at 6:30 a.m. they also responded to a 22-acre fire that lasted four hours.
- On June 25, 2020, at 11:44 a.m., the Leverett Fire Department responded to a brush fire in and around Brushy Mountain. The fire burned for 34 days until it was finally extinguished, consuming 66 acres. Mutual aid was critical during the initial days of the fire.
2020 Ranks in the Top 10 for Brush Fires
In 2020, Massachusetts fire departments reported 5,846 natural vegetation fires, which caused two civilian injuries, 19 firefighter injuries, and an estimated dollar loss of $217,409; this is a 96% increase from the 2,978 incidents reported in 2019 (which was an unusually low number of brush fires). These types of fires are so weather-dependent and 2020 ranks in the top ten years for brush fires. The Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS) collects data on grass fires, brush fires, wildland fires, woods fires and other outside natural vegetation fires, which we refer to generally as “brush fires”.
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