ANDOVER, Conn. — A brush fire burned 26 acres of private land adjacent to the Nathan Hale Forest in Andover on Monday.
Andover Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ron Mike said they received a call at 5:16 a.m. for a brush fire in the area of Bear Swamp Road and Wheeling Road.
“I live right across the street from where the fire was, so it was a concern to me, both personally and as the town administrator,” Eric Anderson, Andover town administrator, said.
When firefighters arrived, Mike said they found a large area burning in the woods.
Firefighters from Bolton, Columbia and Coventry came with their brush equipment and tanker trucks to help.
“We’re able to gain access from a private residence that sat closer to the fire of the natural road access that was able to get to the fire a lot quicker,” Mike said.
DEEP was called in for their resources as well.
“They did some prescribed burning to burn off some of the fuels in the other areas adjacent to where the fire was,” Mike said.
Mike said since it was open, hardwood terrain, there wasn't a lot of low undergrowth to the ground and the weather allowed them to get their job done.
“And the fire was burning pretty slow due to the fact that we had no winds this morning, which allowed us to get a quick knock down on the fire. We were able to get the main body of fire under control within 45 minutes or so,” Mike said.
Anderson said they had other small fires around their town.
“Either somebody throwing a cigarette out the window or something like that, that has been contained pretty quickly,” Anderson said.
There are some consequences for burning at this time considering there is an extreme fire risk.
“Theoretically, the penalties are up to six months in jail and a $200 fine,” Anderson said.
Anderson hopes that with the expected rain in Thursday's forecast, the fire danger will go down substantially.
“But it would take a fair amount of rain, because we are in a level two drought in this area,” Anderson said.
He advised people not to burn anything outdoors during this time while the fire danger is so elevated.
”We hope all residents stay vigilant, because they're the ones that are going to prevent fires from starting by just good behavior,” Anderson said.
Anderson said DEEP will investigate the cause of the fire.
Cayla Cade is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at ccade@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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