High fire alert is no joke
POMFRET — An improperly disposed cigarette during high fire danger sparked a large field fire on Covell Road Easter Sunday, according to fire officials.
Around 2:45 p.m. the Pomfret Fire Department was dispatched to the area of 80 Covell Road for a brush fire.
Approximately 3.6 acres were burned. At the time, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) had declared a high forest fire alert. The National Weather Service warned there was an elevated risk for fire spread.
Pomfret was one of several locations in the northeast corner where firefighters spent their Easter putting out brush fires.
Pomfret Fire Chief Brett Sheldon arrived on the scene within minutes and reported a multi-acre fire burning in a field moving towards the woodline. Mutual aid brush trucks and manpower came from Hampton, Williamsville and Eastford.
Crews attacked the left and right flanks from a Covell Road anchor point, allowing them to quickly contain the fire. UTVs and off-road brush trucks went in and extinguished the rest of the fire. DEEP Forestry Crew was requested to cut down a hazardous dead tree that was burning inside.
The Eastford Independent Fire Co. and Williamsville Fire Engine Company established a draft site on the Covell Road bridge, providing water to the trucks and UTVs on the scene.
Crews cleared the scene at approximately 4:30. There were no injuries as a result of the fire.
That was just one of more than a dozen brush fires that struck. April 21 crews fought a blaze in Dayville on Upper Maple Street.
Story and Covell photos courtesy of Daniel Majercik, Quiet Corner Alerts
caption, page 1:
Dayville brush fire. Photo courtesy of the East Putnam Fire Department.
captions, page 5:
Draft site set up off the Covell Bridge to fight the Covell Road fire.
Left: The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was called in to remove the tree that was burning inside.
Brush Fire
The field smolders at the scene of the Covell Road fire in Pomfret. Numerous brush fires kept firefighters busy over the weekend and into the week. Photos by Daniel Majercik, Quiet Corner Alerts.