Danbury Firefighters Tackle Brush Fires Along I-84

DANBURY, CT — Firefighters tackled multiple brush fires along Interstate 84 on Saturday.

Members of the Danbury Fire Department responded to fires which had ignited along the highway westbound between Exits 7 and 6. Firefighters called upon colleagues from the Brookfield Volunteer Fire Company for mutual aid during the episode, which lasted for a little over an hour.

Last weekend members of the Brookfield Volunteer Fire Company were called upon to extinguish brush fired along Candlewood Lake Road just South of Elbow Hill, at the height of last week's heat wave.

According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the majority of wildfires in Connecticut are human-caused by improper burning of debris, arson, campfires, discarded wood ashes, and equipment.

DEEP urges residents to use fires with caution and heed the following recommendations, especially during forest fire season:

• Obey local laws regarding open fires, including campfires.
• Keep all flammable objects away from fire. Scrape away leaves, twigs, and grass within a 10-foot diameter circle from fire.
• Have firefighting tools nearby and handy.
• Never leave a fire unattended.
• Carefully dispose of hot charcoal.
• Drown all fires.
• Carefully extinguish smoking materials.