Concord Fire Chief: 'Human Causation' Suspected

Updated, 5:45 p.m. Concord Fire Chief Dan Andrus issued the following statement about this afternoon’s fires:

Three brush fires consumed several acres of forest land in West Concord Saturday afternoon. The first fire was reported at 1:07 p.m. from Call Street. Two additional fires were reported nearby and a staging area and base camp were set up on Little Pond Road. The fires ranged in size from just under half an acre to over two acres. Concord’s on duty crews were joined by off duty firefighters who had been called in to fight the fires. Fire crews from surrounding towns also responded and were joined by personnel from the State Division of Forest and Lands. The fires were declared to be contained by 3:30 p.m., but crews were expected to remain on scene until nightfall cleaning up hot spots. No structures were threatened and no damage or injuries were reported. The cause of the fires remains under investigation, but the occurrence of three almost simultaneous separate fires indicates human causation.

The first post is below

Concord Fire and Rescue teams are at this hour on Rattlesnake Hill in West Concord fighting three major forest and brush fires.

VIDEO: Rattlesnake Hill in Concord forest fire

Firefighters were seen responded to the scene around 1:45 p.m. entering the area from both Call Street and Little Pond Road, near the FAA tower.

Numerous forestry units were at the scene fighting three different locations that were burning – two small fires near the electrical wires that run through the hill and a larger one, in the state prison farm and quarries area, that quickly spread to nearly five acres, according to scanner chatter.

At least two forestry unit firefighters were combing the woods looking for someone who may have set the fires.

Fire teams realized that they would have better access on the Little Pond Road side so they set up command there and shifted Bow and other teams to that location. The firefighters used truck pumps to pump water from vernal pools and watering holes to extinguish the fires.

The city’s entire team of firefighters was called to the scene to fight the blazes. Other units from around the region were called in to cover Concord.

At just before 3 p.m., dispatch reported that the the first fire was contained. The larger fire, covering multiple acres, continued to rage, according to alerts.

At around 4:15 p.m., dispatchers reported that the fires appeared to be contained and teams would now begin cleaning up the area.