In what has become an unprecedented fall fire season for New England, conditions remain highly elevated for fires to erupt and spread. A red flag warning will be in place for all of southern New England once again for Sunday, marking the third straight day with this alert and the ninth posted for New England this fall. This latest wave of fires began around midweek this week with dozens of New fires igniting in addition to ones that have been smoldering from previous waves.
This latest bout of fires have caused instances of damage and evacuations, something that has not really occurred since the first fire broke out in Berlin, Connecticut a few weeks ago until now. A rapidly spreading brush fire in North Andover, Massachusetts early Saturday morning damaged two homes and forced a quick evacuation of three homes. Firefighters went door to door to clear the homes. No injuries were reported.
A brush Fire on Friday burned very close to an apartment complex in Saugus, Massachusetts. In Lynn, a fire broke out Friday afternoon in the Lynn Woods Reservation, a popular hiking area. The fire quickly grew to over 100 acres. As of Saturday afternoon, firefighters reported that the fire had jumped their fire line and was burning toward Dungeon Rock. Earlier this week, a fire in Chicopee temporarily forced the closure of the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Yet another brush fire broke out in Monson, Massachusetts on Thursday morning. The fire burned the side of a home, which caused the displacement of the occupants. In Connecticut, a brush fire caused heavy damage to portions of a farm in Orange. Route 15 in Wallingford, Connecticut was closed after a car fire sparked a brush fire. In Tolland, a downed power line sparked a large fire on Friday.
Early Saturday morning, a brush fire forced the evacuation of a nearby apartment complex in Norwich, Connecticut. The fire spread to the outside of the building and caused damage, but fortunately, the interior of the building was not damaged. No one was displaced after the evacuation was lifted. Dozens of other fires have also ignited which haven't caused damage, road closures or evacuations.
Lesser activity has also occurred in northern New England this past week as well. A brush fire broke out in Goffstown, New Hampshire near Saint Anselm College early Saturday morning. Multiple acres were reported to be burned as the fire took four hours to get under control. A brush fire also broke out in Brattleboro, Vermont on Friday. Brush fires were also reported in recent days in Wales and Portland, Maine.
As stated at the beginning, a red flag warning will be in place for Sunday. More brush fires are likely to ignite in the next 24 hours. Cold temperatures and calmer winds tonight will mitigate the fire threat overnight tonight. Sunday night, a much needed round of showers will move through New England. Unfortunately, it won't be much as forcing will be rather weak. 0.10-0.25 inches of rain is likely region-wide.
This won't put a dent in the drought, but could bring at least temporary relief to the fire situation. It won't end the fire risk for the season, but any water falling from the sky will be much appreciated and put somewhat of a damper on things.
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