Brush fires a threat this spring

WINSTED — Until a substantial amount of rain moves through the area, the state of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection will continue to keep the fire danger level at high. The DEP has issued a reminder to residents that open burning is prohibited due to dry weather conditions. Local burn officials are taking the situation seriously.

On Wednesday a fire weather watch was issued by the National Weather Service. Due to a cold front moving through the area, a watch was posted to alert east central New York and western New England that dry air and low humidity combined with a wind gusting up to 25 miles an hour created the potential for dangerous conditions.

"Because of that [watch], as one of the local burning officials in Winsted, I have directed the police and fire department to not allow any open burning in Winsted, no camp fires, no bonfires, until we get a significant rain fall," said Peter Marchand, burning official and regional forest fire warden. "We are asking homeowners and everyone not to do any burning in barrels or anything at all and if they do see anything to call the police department to ask them to extinguish it or have the fire department extinguish it."

In the last week, the Winsted Fire Department responded to at least three brush fires, all due to carelessness, according to Marchand.

A fire on a Route 7 property Tuesday in Falls Village destroyed two barns and heavily damaged another. The cause of the fires was determined to be unauthorized burning of brush and 50-year-old Dana Baxter of Falls Village was arrested and charged.

Marchand advised smokers to extinguish their cigarettes completely and to not throw them out the window of a car. With such dry conditions, a lit cigarette can ignite a large-scale brush fire quickly.

"If anyone sees any fires or smoke anywhere they need to report it immediately to the police so it can be investigated," said Marchand.

According to the DEP, fires burn an average of 1,300 acres of state woodland in Connecticut annually.

"As spring arrives, more and more families want to get out and enjoy the outdoors. We strongly encourage they do," said DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy in a department press release. "However, with the dry spell we have had combined with low humidity and dry grass, the conditions are prime for brush fires to erupt, which we are already seeing.

"We want people to enjoy the outdoors but urge everyone to obey local laws regarding open fires, carefully dispose of hot coals and completely extinguish smoking materials," McCarthy said.