Berlin Brush Fire: 'Not Out Of The Woods Yet:' BVFD

BERLIN, CT — While progress was reported this week at the site of a massive Lamentation Mountain brush fire in Berlin, the challenges have not gone away, fire officials said Friday.

And with the weather dry and, on Friday at least, a bit breezy, the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department said the fire danger on Nov. 1 was as bad as it has been in two months.

"We are not out of the woods yet, today has the highest fire risk yet out of 2 months," wrote the BVFD Friday afternoon.

Despite dry weather and a state of emergency declared in Connecticut, along with local burn bans, firefighters said they've responded to several reports of people ignoring that locally.

The bans, which are still in effect, prohibit indefinitely everything from campfires, and fire pits to, even, outdoor charcoal/wood barbecues.

"We have responded to multiple outside fire reports over the past two days. Please help keep everyone safe and respect the ban until conditions improve," wrote the BVFD.

Meanwhile, the Berlin Town Council has approved a resolution this week piggybacking a local state of emergency declaration on top of Gov. Ned Lamont's declaration earlier.

According to the resolution, the town now has the authority to suspend Berlin's emergency declaration, regardless of whether it is lifted at the state level.

Blaze Started Oct. 21

The first reports of the blaze started coming in from area residents at about 5:44 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21 at Lamentation Mountain State Park in Berlin/Meriden.

Firefighters with the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's Wildfire Division are among several units battling the fire.In addition, firefighters from Newington, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Cromwell, Westfield, Southington, and Meriden are also assisting.

This week, the BVFD said, in addition to a unit from Maine, a firefighter unit out of Quebec, Canada, has arrived to help.

Sadly, Wethersfield Volunteer Fire Department firefighter Robert Sharkevich Sr. was killed Oct. 22 when the forest firefighting vehicle he was in overturned. His funeral and burial were Monday, Oct. 28.

So far, the fire is believed to have burned 100 to 125 acres of land depending on various estimates, with the fire still confined to unpopulated areas of town and not requiring any evacuations.

DEEP has been posting regular press briefings on its Facebook page to update the media/public on the fire. They can be found at this link.

From Oct. 31: 'Berlin Brush Fire: Mountain Still Burns As State Preps For Recovery'

From Oct. 30: 'Berlin Brush Fire: Progress Reported By Firefighters'

From Oct. 29: 'Berlin Brush Fire: The Fight Moves Into Its Second Week'

From Oct. 28: 'Berlin Brush Fire: Blaze Enters 2nd Week As Hero Is LaidTo Rest'

From Oct. 25: 'Berlin Brush Fire: Services Set For FF, Emergency Declared: UPDATE'

From Oct. 24: 'Berlin Brush Fire: Firefighters Unite To 'Slay The Dragon': UPDATE'

From Oct. 23: 'Wethersfield Community Mourns Loss Of Beloved Firefighter'

From Oct. 22: 'Berlin Brush Fire: Firefighter Mourned As Blaze Still Burns: UPDATE'