Springfield blaze claims 7 woodland acres

No injuries were reported on Tuesday after a late-morning brush fire swept through a wooded area near Hartness Park, charring almost seven acres of vegetation.


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Springfield blaze claims 7 woodland acres BY TIMOTHY LAROCHE tlaroche@eagletimes.com 45 min ago 0 SPRINGFIELD, Vt. -— No injuries were reported on Tuesday after a late-morning brush fire swept through a wooded area near Hartness Park, charring almost seven acres of vegetation. More than 60 firefighters from nearby departments responded to the scene of the third-alarm fire, containing the spread of the blaze by early afternoon. Crews spent much of the remainder of the day extinguishing hotspots and the occasional flare-up. As Springfield Fire Chief Russell Thompson noted while at the scene, brush fires can quickly reignite or spread in windy conditions. While the exact cause of the fire remains under investigation, fire danger levels across the state were considered moderate, meaning that accidental fires can easily spread through dry leaves and grass. Winds holding steady at 10 mph likely caused the fire to spread across the area as the fire climbed the hillside, Thompson said. Although firefighters found lawn chairs in the area, reports that the fire may have been caused by youths camping in the woods have not been verified, Thompson said. In such dry and windy conditions, he could not pin down the exact location that the fire started as of mid-afternoon. “It’s spring in Vermont,” Thompson said, noting that the sun and warm weather increased fire dangers. If not for firefighters bustling across Summer Street near the main staging area, there were no visible signs of the blaze from the surrounding residential areas by early afternoon. In the surrounding hillside though, black char marks showed the extent of the fire’s path. Only hours earlier though, the scene looked far more severe. Around 11 a.m., Michael Ritter and Tony Stewart had just arrived to work on a house nearby when they noticed smoke coming from the hillside. A man drove up shortly after to alert them that there was fire in the area. “We took a little walk up into the woods and said, ‘Oh man. It’s pretty big,’” Ritter said. “It was big. The fire was probably the size of at least a football field, if not two football fields.” The two men called emergency services. Thompson noted that the area where Ritter and Stewart were working was near the “heel” of the fire. “When we got there you could see the area but then it started spreading … if you look on the hill, it was all flames and in the middle it was all black,” Stewart said. “It moved probably 40 yards in half an hour.” Meanwhile, firefighters had already arrived on scene at the flanks of the fire at Dell Road and Woodbury Road. “The first crews arrived off Dell Road and found the fire up the hillside,” Thompson said. advertisement Throughout the day, other fire departments from the region released warnings to the public about the increased fire danger. Across the Connecticut River in Claremont, New Hampshire, for instance, the Claremont Fire Department asked residents to check with the department before conducting any open burnings. “The Claremont Fire Department would like to remind residents and property owners that that with spring upon us, it also provides prime opportunity for brush fires,” the report stated. Fire Chief Justin Hastings of the Grantham, New Hampshire Fire Department also released a similar statement advising residents to be cautious while outdoors to avoid fires. Follow Timothy LaRoche on Facebook at Eagle Times – Timothy LaRoche, or on Twitter at @TimothyLaRoche Top2018News

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