Officials: This Week An Example Of Spring Brush Fire Worries

NORTH CENTRAL, CT — With three brush fires breaking out in the Hartford/Tolland county region on Monday and some rain in the forecast for Tuesday, the pattern resembles the typical springtime roller coaster for the danger, area fire officials said.

"That's what happens in the spring," said John Littell, Tolland's public safety supervisor and fire chief. "It gets windy, it dries up, then we get rain and it dries up again."

Littell was speaking Tuesday on the heels of two brush fires in Tolland the day before.

At 11 a.m., an alert homeowner gave Tolland firefighters a head start after a brush fire broke out on Skungamaug Road, a rural spot off Route 74. First arriving units found the bulk of the fire was knocked down by a homeowner but wet down the area as a precaution, fire officials said.

The second fire broke out at at about 5:15 along the 400 block of Old Stafford Road, fire officials said. Initial reports indicate the fire was in an area approximately 100-by-50 feet. Fire officials said the blaze was under control in less than 20 minutes. Crews remained at the scene to wet down hot spots, fire officials said.

Also on Monday afternoon, firefighters in Southington were at the scene of a brush fire on the cliffs in the area of Caretaker Road.

"This time of year is definitely the worst for brush fires," Littell said, "Nothing is really green yet and that is a factor along withthe weather patterns."

Littell said with chilly night and warm days, many area residents will leave their heat off and use a wood stove or fireplace to take the edge off at night. Ash disposal then becomes an issue.

"We are always asking residents to be careful when dumping the ashes freom a fire," he said.

Then, there is spring cleaning.

"In the Town of Vernon, open burning is strictly controlled by a town ordinance that allows open burning of brush with a permit issued by the Office of the Fire Marshal," said Daniel Wasilewski, Vernon's Fire Marshal. "If a permit is issued, the applicant cannot burn if the forest fire danger level is listed as high, very high or extreme. Further restrictions also speak to the air quality index and the exact type of materials that can be burned."

Click here for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection guidelines on open burning.

Springtine campfires or social bonfires and firepit gatherings are also springtimne favorites, state DEEP officials said. Click here for guidelines on them.