The dry weather conditions coupled with a number of brush fires across the state has led to Governor Ned Lamont to declare a state of emergency. State officials say this is a needed move to ensure the proper response to all these fires.
As smoke rises over Naugatuck State Forest, Oxford firefighters there dealt with dry and windy conditions battling an 8-to-10-acre blaze.
“It's spread so fast and rapidly and it burns rapidly on the top,” Chief Scott Pelletier with the Oxford Fire Department said.
It’s one of multiple brush fires that state officials are monitoring across the state. Fire crews in Somers put out a one-acre fire off of Old Hampden Road that ignited Friday.
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The biggest one remains the Hawthorne Fire where crews are still trying to put it out despite the difficult weather.
“When we're tackling a wildland fire like this, it's not something that we can extinguish. We have to wait until we get significant rainfall to actually put it out,” Katie Dykes, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said.
With all the fires across the state and the forecasted conditions being ideal for more to potentially ignite, Lamont declared a state of emergency. State officials say it’s a needed move.
“That declaration will really allow us to more rapidly bring in additional resources or volunteers to help us continue to respond and recover from these events,” Bill Turner, state emergency management director, said.
This comes as Saturday will have a red flag warning bringing conditions ripe for fire to start.
“Twenty-five to 30 mile per hour wind gusts. Low humidity and then also the very dry vegetation,” Josh Cingranelli with the state Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security said.
State officials are urging people to be aware of the high fire risk if they’re enjoying the outdoors over the weekend.
“We really need the public to do their part to help be mindful of that and use extreme caution as they're doing any activities that may require any sort of recreational activity with fires or machines,” Turner said.
