EAST LYME, Conn. — Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme remained closed Sunday as firefighters battled an ongoing blaze within the recreation area’s hiking trails.
Rich Schenk, fire control officer of the Eastern District, said that the fire has burned about 46 acres of land.
Crews including the East Lyme Fire Department and DEEP staff worked on "mopping up" the fire and working on the fire edge Sunday.
Another crew and "more DEEP staff" are expected to assist in cleaning up the fire Monday, Schenk said.
The cause remains unknown and the fire is in a remote area of the park.
Crews from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Forest Fire Service and a mutual aid hot shot crew from California were in the woods fighting the fire, according to Deputy East Lyme Fire Chief Eric Quinn. The firefighters from California traveled to Connecticut to assist the state during this dry period of high fire danger.
“They’re working on making a box around it to help hopefully contain it. We’re also going to start what we call ‘back burns’ to try to burn some of the areas towards the fires to prevent it from spreading,” Quinn said.
Quinn warned that heavy smoke was coming out of the woods.
“That’s only going to get worse,” he said.
When asked what residents can do to help, Quinn said that they should avoid the area.
“Firstly, the state park is closed so everybody needs to stay out of the Rocky Neck State Park,” Quinn said. “People that live in the Giants Neck [Niantic] neighborhood, just be mindful that there’s going to be a lot of smoke coming through the area.”
Connecticut has gone without substantial rainfall for months, and dozens of fires have broken out across the state in recent days and weeks. Quinn said local first responders were prepared for the scenario to occur close to home.
“We’ve been alert and have been actively communicating with all of our partners at the state level to make sure that we’d have everything we need if this sort of thing were to happen, and unfortunately it did,” Quinn said.
The cause of the fire is not known at this time.
There is an ongoing burn ban at all of Connecticut's state parks, which bans the use of outdoor grills, firepits, campfires and any kind of flames outdoors. This ban has been in effect for a week, as the environment continues to be dry with the lack of rain in the state. Many municipalities are implementing local burn bans as well.
During a DEEP press conference, officials said there are currently 111 fires in the state of Connecticut.
James Fowler, a DEEP senior advisor, addressed the Rocky Neck blaze.
"The park has been evacuated. We have a crew from California working with the East Lyme Fire Department... They're fortunate to have the trail system down there at Rocky Neck, which they're using to help manage that fire," Fowler said. "They're clearing lines on those trails in order to keep it within the perimeter that they've established."
Fowler elaborated on the firefighting technique described by Quinn, noting that crews are allowing the fire to burn in certain directions and are clearing the natural trails that are around because it's easier and safer for the crews that are out there.
"So, this should keep the more public areas safe and is a more controlled way of managing this fire," Fowler said. "Winds are between 50 and 30 miles an hour down there on the coast right now, and getting in through Mt. Laurel and the other vegetation that's there is not the safest for our crews with other methods."
Meanwhile, the Hawthorne Fire in Berlin is in a "mop up" process Sunday evening, officials said.
Three other noteworthy fires include an eight-acre fire in Oxford, an acre-sized fire in Bristol and a 1.7-acre fire in Roxbury.
First responders will continue to stay on their toes, as rain is not forecasted in the immediate future.
This is a developing story. FOX61.com will provide more updates as soon as they develop.
RELATED: Hawthorne Fire enters mop-up phase | Officials cautiously optimistic, as weather remains challenging
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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Leah Myers is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at lmyers@fox61.com.
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