Cause Of Fires At The Quarries In Concord 'Undetermined': Chief

CONCORD, NH — Firefighters in Concord do not know why a couple of brushfires have occurred in an area of the city where no one should be but they have their suspicions.

Last week, firefighters were patrolling areas of the West End and West Concord trying to find the exact location of where smoke was coming from on top of Rattlesnake Hill. Eventually, they found a small brushfire — about 600 square feet in size, in the quarries along the hill off Little Pond Road, and spent several hours putting out the fire.

The next day, firefighters were sent back to the area after seeing more smoke again. The area had re-kindled, according to Guy Newbery, the city's interim fire chief.

"Even though the crews used several hundred gallons of water and did establish a fire line, the fire did extend underground beyond the fire line to extend to an unburned area," Newbery said.

Firefighters first went in with canisters but later, ran a line from one of the quarries that had water in it and pumped that water to douse the flames.

"At the re-kindle fire, we pumped water again from the quarry and requested a device to apply a wetting agent to help establish a secure fire line and aid in extinguishing hot spots," Newbury said. "The first fire was slightly smaller and originated in an area of old granite rubble with difficult access."

The total burn area on the hill was a little less than an acre, he said.

Newbury said the exact cause of the fires was unknown and will be officially deemed "undetermined." He added, "Certainly, a contributing factor to all this is the severe drought."

Transients have been camping in the area of the quarries as well as the east side of the hill near the cemetery and on the Lincoln Financial property off Rumford Street — not historically a place for the homeless to be. A few months ago, a large camp was cleared from the Lincoln Financial property. Newbury said the department was aware of transient issues in the area. Hikers, bikers, and swimmers have also been frequenting the area which, he said, was very remote so "anything is possible."

Technically, most of Rattlesnake Hill is private property, with a number of different owners and "no trespassing" signs everywhere, but it also a popular area for hikers and bikers. With the city's pools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was, again, populated by swimmers, too, during the summer.

West End and West Concord residents have raised issues about the homeless camps spreading into more wooded areas of the city — especially due to the number of fires that have occurred. In 2015, the last time Concord had a severe drought, numerous brushfires were reported in the area, with acres of conservation land set ablaze, at Marjory Swope Park, as well as the quarries.

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