BERLIN, Conn. — The Berlin fire chief said injuries were reported in a crash involving a fire UTV Tuesday as fire continues to devour the land of Lamentation Mountain in Berlin.
The fire is serving as a big challenge for fire crews who have to contend with hot temperatures and tough terrain.
By Tuesday evening, people along the Berlin Turnpike were once again able to see an orange glow through the haze as the flames were still far from extinguished.
“That stuff doesn’t happen around here so it was weird. It’s weird,” said Katie Bridges of Wethersfield.
“It’s crazy. We’ve never had a wildfire like this before,” said eyewitness Brianna Bernardi.
One by one, people pulled off the busy Berlin Turnpike to take pictures of the wildfire that continued to tear up the terrain.
“The heavy rock. There’s a lot of shale. A lot of cliffs and 90-degree sheer drops,” said Chief Jeff Pajor of the Kensington Fire Department.
Pajor said the terrain is just one of the many reasons why the wildfire is tough to tackle. Crews are also dealing with wind at higher altitude and exhaustion.
“They are putting some safety things in place for escape routes if there was a problem or the fire got more aggressive,” Pajor added.
Crews haven’t put much water on the fire. They are attacking it from the edges in the hopes of creating a perimeter and having it burn itself out from the middle. So far, the inferno has incinerated about 30 acres of mountain vegetation.
“I’d be packing up my kids and leaving,” Bernardi said.
No evacuations have been necessary. In fact, the flames may not be as concerning as the smokestack that’s drifting south.
“Smoke inhalation. I smelled it on my way up here. I’m 15 minutes away, not even. And I was able to smell it,” Bernardi added.
“Some of the smoke is traveling south toward the Meriden and Wallingford area. Somebody did say that there might have been a daycare that needed to close,” Pajor said.
A no-fly zone remains in place for the next three days. It clears the sky for first responders to take flight with drones to plan their attack from above.
“There was a guy flying a drone. He was able to get some pictures of the flames. They were pretty high. Lots of smoke,” Bridges said.
Nearly a dozen municipal departments are rotating crews trying to keep manpower fresh, with assistance from state forestry experts. They’ll be here a while.
“Probably through the weekend,” Pajor said.
Pajor noted that the next step may be to do an air dump of water.
It is currently unclear what started the wildfire, but the National Weather Service said dry conditions, breezy winds and low humidity are all contributing to elevated fire danger. On Wednesday, the wind is expected to pick up.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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