BERLIN, Conn. — Fire and emergency officials said that while the Hawthrone Fire on Lamentation Mountain in Berlin grew a bit on the southern end, they're hoping to get the fire under control.
In an update Friday morning, Berlin Fire Chief John Massirio said crews were trying to put "the pedal down" on dousing the fire as temperatures were forecasted to spike next week. The Berlin Fire Marshal's office has not yet released a cause for the fire, which as of Thursday, stands at 107 acres.
One thing that's not helping crews is the drones and small aircraft that keep ignoring the temporary flight restrictions in the area.
"It's hampering our efforts to effectively put this [fire] under control in a reasonable amount of time," Massirio said.
The flight incursions through drones and aircraft grounded the aerial support helicopters tasked with dumping thousands of gallons of water on the fire. It takes 30-40 minutes to get the helicopters going again, and Massirio said the incursions waste 2-3 hours of vital operations.
As of Friday morning, over 125,000 gallons of water from nearby Silver Lake have been dumped on the blaze.
Massirio said the northern side of the fire is contained up on the ridge, but overnight, some spread to the southern end. Houses in the area, however, are not under an evacuation order.
Meriden's Assistant Fire Chief Brendan Noonan said crews are roving the area throughout the day and night to prevent the fire from approaching. Eversource was made aware that some high-tension powerlines were threatened by the fires, but the lines have been shut down, and the fire is not affecting power to the area.
Fire crews are also monitoring to ensure embers don't float into the neighborhoods.
Another issue for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is the other fires that keep popping up nationwide.
Another concern is a brush fire in Oxford that is between 5 and 10 acres big. DEEP officials said that some resources, including some crews from Rhode Island, have been allocated to that area. They also said aerial support may be used in that fire as it has a moderate spread. That fire broke out Friday morning.
State Emergency Management Director William Turner said that Gov. Ned Lamont submitted a request for FEMA funds for the Hawthorne Fire, with 75% of the costs of operations covered by federal money, and that the request has been approved by the federal government. That request has been approved, the governor's office announced midday Friday.
“I thank FEMA and the Biden-Harris administration for their rapid response to my request and their continuing partnership with Connecticut to ensure that we can support the resources we need to keep this area safe," Lamont said in a statement.
When asked how much the operations will cost, Turner said there are only estimates as a financial team has not yet been brought in to calculate the "burn rate." However, Turner estimates that the costs will be "hundreds of thousands" of dollars just with air support alone.
Turner also said that the language for the wireless emergency alert has been updated to include telling others to avoid the wooded areas around the fire and to keep drones and other small aircraft out of the airspace.
Massirio said that he will be attending the funeral services of Robert Sharkevich Sr., a Wethersfield volunteer firefighter who was killed Tuesday in a rollover crash while operating a UTV on the mountain. He said a large turnout for Sharkevich is expected, with many departments attending services as well.
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Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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