*UPDATE* Brush Fire Finally Out in East Haddam

About 16 firefighters returned today to the scene of a large brush fire that broke out last night in woods off River Road. The fire was eventually extinguished earlier today.

The fire, which consumed some five acres last night and was fought by about 70 firefighters from numerous local towns, is currently contained to an area of about 100 feet by 500 feet, said First Selectman Mark Walter.

No one has been injured in the blaze and no homes or other structures are threatened because the fire broke out in an uninhabited area comprised of town lands and land trust property, Walter said.

The fire is contained to an area near Chapman Pond, on a ridge below Gillette Castle State Park, Walter said. The pond, he added, has helped keep the fire from spreading.

Firefighters worked until about 2 a.m. to put out the brush fire, which is so deep in the woods that fire trucks could not access the area. Instead, firefighters had to use “gators,” large all-terrain vehicles that can carry several people, and have been fighting the blaze using 5-gallon water containers carried on their backs.

“It’s just like what you see out West,” Walter said.

Richard M. Schenk, an officer with the state Department of Environmental Protection's Fire Control Bureau, said that at one point flames from the blaze reached a height of 12 feet. The blaze, he said, was in area overlooking Chapman Pond and was "running uphill through matted leaf matter."

Brush fire season in this area usually starts around March 15th, he said, and last until about May 15th. In the last 10 years, he said, there have been about  three brush fires in this area.

Fire companies from Salem, Colchester, Lyme, Haddam, East Haddam and East Hampton helped fight the fire overnight and today.

Walter said the area has numerous balsam and pine trees that helped feed the blaze.

“When those go up it’s like a Roman candle,” he said.

The fire is contained to a small area and firefighters are mostly monitoring it letting it burn itself out, he said.

None of the firefighters have been injured in the blaze, but many of those out there today were also in the woods until late last night fighting the fire.

“I think they’re just worn out at this point,” he said.