Lack of rain, wind, create flammable mix

AMANDA CUDA and MICHAEL P. MAYKO
04/24/2008 11:46:34 PM EDT

The dry, windy weather Thursday led state officials to warn that fires could become erratic and easily spread.

"We issued a red flag warning," said Dwayne Gardner, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "It's not so much a warning to the public but an alert to firefighters that the weather conditions can cause erratic fire behavior."

He said that the low rainfall, high winds and abundance of dry, dead vegetation continued to make conditions this week high for the possibility of forest and brush fires.

"You put all these conditions together, and you have a primetime for brush fires," Gardner said.

In fact that was the case in Milford as about 20 acres of highly flammable phragmites in Silver Sands State Park burned for several hours Thursday morning, sending columns of thick black smoke into the air.

As the wind shifted, lighter, wispy smoke drifted over the beach toward Charles Island. Firefighters carried portable water tanks on their backs to reach the nearly inaccessible fire.

One access point, off the old "dump road" that had been part of Nettleton Avenue before the state park was expanded in 1997, served as a staging area. The nearest hydrant to the blaze was near the city Animal Control Department on the park's access road.

The smoke was visible from Pumpkin Delight School, the Heritage Sound Condominiums and the Island View Apartments, but no evacuations were necessary, officials said.

Milford firefighters received mutual aid from area departments. A small crowd of bystanders watched the fire from the Walnut Beach parking lot. "I thought this would have happened last week, when the kids were off from school," said Gordon Siwek, who was on the beach with his dog Dakota.

Gardner said the DEP was notified of the fire by Milford officials and added he was hopeful that the rain in the weekend forecast would reduce the threat.

"It'll reduce it somewhat but I wouldn't say you'll see significant rainfall this weekend," said Robert Miller, a meteorologist with AccuWeather in Pennslyvania, which supplies the forecasts to the Connecticut Post.

"You'll see spotty showers on Saturday, mainly in the afternoon," he said. "The better chance for rain is Sunday when you may see a thunderstorm."

At the most he expects only a quarter-inch of rain will fall during the two days.

"There is a potential for more substantial rain on Monday, probably a half inch," Miller said. "It could even linger into Tuesday."

Meanwhile he expects the alerts to stay in effect todayand he predicted today's forecast to be "a carbon copy" of Thursday's.

On average, forest and brush fires burn through about 1,300 acres of Connecticut woodland. Gardner said the damage is mainly environmental, but sometimes these blazes can spread to nearby buildings, including houses and other structures, like barns.

Through the early part of the week, the DEP listed the forest fire danger at "high." Gardner said it's difficult to speculate on whether that classification will change in the near future, especially since wind levels differ from day to day. However, he said, unless there is a significant rainfall soon, it's unlikely that the danger level will fall below "high."

Milford's fire wasn't the only significant area blaze in recent days.

Last weekend, a brush fire swept through 25 and a half acres of land in Oxford.

Oxford Fire Chief Scott Pelletier said firefighters were called to the Punkup Road area about 1 p.m. Saturday on the report of a brush fire. Though there were houses nearby, Pelletier said firefighters were able to control the blaze before it spread to the buildings. Though the weekend brush fire was the biggest one Pelletier had seen in Oxford in a few years, he said there have been several other small fires of this sort this year. Other area towns have faced some small vegetation fires as well, including Shelton.

Shelton Fire Marshal Jim Tortora said there were several brush fires in the city over the past weekend. Such fires are fairly common in Shelton, Tortora said, and mainly the result of carelessness. For instance, one of the weekend fires resulted after someone didn't properly extinguish a fire in a fire pit.

Gardner said that, depending on the region of the country, brush fires can be started in a number of ways but, in Connecticut, people cause the majority of them, about 95 percent. Maybe someone doesn't extinguish a campfire properly, or drops a lit cigarette on the ground without snuffing it out. Or perhaps someone is burning brush on his or her property, and doesn't put out the fire entirely.

The good news, Gardner said, is that these fires can be prevented by exercising caution and good judgment. First, no one in the state can burn brush, even on his or her property, without a permit. Even if you have a permit, it isn't valid when the forest fire danger is rated high, very high or extreme, or if you are burning within 100 feet of a grassland or woodland.

Also, extinguish all fires thoroughly. If you're putting out a campfire, for example, Gardner said, even after you dump water on the fire, you should check to make sure there are no embers still burning.

"It really does boil down to common sense," Gardner said.

Pelletier agreed that people need to be especially careful during such fire-friendly times. "They need to stay vigilant," he said. "They should take extra precautions." To check daily forest fire danger levels in the state, visit www.ct.gov/DEP, and click on "Forest Fire Danger."

Milford Bureau Chief Frank Juliano contributed to this report.