WEST HAVEN, Conn. — Brush fires burned in several town across Connecticut on Saturday, the second straight day the state has seen winds and low humidity create a serious fire hazard.
Crews extinguished the first fire Saturday morning in the Maltby Lakes area in Orange. Fire officials said it happened in the Regional Water Authority (RWA) watershed area.
RWA officials said someone had contacted their police department about the fire and they notified their fire department. Departments from Orange, Derby, West Haven and New Haven also responded to the scene.
West Haven Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Esposito said that fire dispatch received the report around 9:30 a.m. of smoke coming from a nearby garage. By the time firefighters arrived, they found a "well-involved" fire in the woods.
Esposito said the wind helped to intensify the fire by fanning the flames, but the fire had been contained by 11:30 a.m. and only hot spots remained.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) says the fire danger level in Connecticut is "High" in Connecticut.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a red flag warning across much of Southern New England, including North Central and Northeast Connecticut, through 5 p.m. this evening. A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are expected, with strong winds and low relative humidity in the forecast. Any fires that start may spread rapidly and become difficult to extinguish.
Fires continued to break out across the state on Saturday. Shortly after noon, North Branford firefighters were called to brush fire on Foxon Road.
In Norwich, a fire broke out in the Yantic Fire District shortly before 2pm. The Taftville Fire Department assisted, and says they operated for 1.5 hrs and laid roughly 400 feet of hose.
Taftville FD also responded with mutual aid for the Baltic Volunteer Fire Department in Sprague for a brush fire around 3 p.m. on Plain Hill Road. The Occum and Taftville Fire Departments also responded to that fire, along with tankers from the towns of Franklin and Lisbon.
Later on Saturday afternoon, Suffield firefighters responded to two outdoor fires. The first was a brush fire in the rear 224 Kent Avenue. Initial report was a larger brush fire spreading rapidly, approximately 6 acres in size. So far the cause is unknown. Mutual aid was provided by the Windsor Locks and East Granby Fire Departments.
Suffield then responded to the report of a shed fire on Hill Street, jwith mutual aid requested from East Granby, Enfield, Thompsonville, Bradley Airport Fire, CT Air National Guard Fire, and units from Suffield released from the Kent Avenue brush fire. Firefighters found a 6 x 10 foot shed fire with some extension to the surrounding brush. All FIre Departments cleared from both incidents at approximately 6:15 pm
Another brush fire sparked in the Beacon Hill Preserve in Branford around 5 p.m. After an hour of attempting to control the spreading fire, mutual aid was requested from East Haven and Guilford, and the fire was finally contained.
Other brush fires broke out on Friday in Southbury, Meriden, and Norwalk.