Two More Brush Fires Occupy FD on Sunday

Fifteen firefighters from two towns doused a brush fire between an apartment complex and a condo complex in Naugatuck Sunday.

The fire was called in around 5 p.m. and was located in woods between Mattatuck Manor Apartments and Hop Brook Estates at 519 and 462 Spring St., respectively, near the Waterbury line and across from the third and fourth holes at Hop Brook Golf Course. Firefighters from Naugatuck and Beacon Falls spent more than two hours putting out the flames; they cut down a couple of trees and soaked the property to make sure it did not rekindle. All told, the fire burned about two acres; nobody was injured, though the flames came close to the Hop Brook Estates property line. 

"There is some evidence that there may have been some camp fires up here, that this may have been a hangout, but we're not sure of that at this point," Fire Chief Ken Hanks said. He said the fire marshal's office will investigate. 

The fire was moving fast along the ground when firefighters arrived and was propelled by a breeze and extremely dry conditions, he said. Brush fires can move uphill faster than someone can run, he said. 

Beacon Falls volunteer firefighters brought their four-wheel drive brush truck and worked alongside career firefighters from Naugatuck. They tapped into a fire hydrant in the Mattatuck Manor parking lot about a quarter-mile from the flames.

The early evening brush fire marked the second of the day in Naugatuck, and the third since Friday.

Around noon on Sunday, the Naugatuck Fire Department knocked down a brush fire that occurred along the railroad tracks just north of the Polish-American Club along Gen. Pulaski Way off of Bridge Street. That started by a man who was camping near the river and had a camp fire that got a little out of control and burned about an acre, Hanks said. Nobody was injured in that one, either. 

"Though the fires are close together, they do not appear to be related," he said.

More information:

To see the forest fire danger levels, click this link.

Click here to read about Friday's brush fire in the Naugatuck Industrial Park.