Firefighters Battle Brush Fire Near Dexter Road Homes

(Editor's note: this article was updated on Tuesday, Aug. 3 at 1:25 p.m. with comments from Melrose Fire Chief John O'Brien.)

A week after battling a persistent brush fire at Mount Hood, Melrose firefighters have spent three days trying to stamp out a brush fire behind Dexter Road that, unlike the Mount Hood fire, is a more imminent threat to Melrose homes.

Melrose Fire Chief John O'Brien said that he is "pretty sure" that a campfire started the fire, which has several mitigating factors that also relate to last week's Mount Hood fire.

"Of course, A) no rain," O'Brien said. "And B) we haven't had a significant brush fire in these areas in at least 15 years, so there's a tremendous amount of debris on the ground. You couple that with a campfire and that's it. It's in an isolated area, so it burns quite a while before it's discovered. It's inaccessible. You put all those things together and it makes a difficult fight."

The fire started on Sunday and firefighters worked on stamping it down all day Monday until nightfall, according to O'Brien.

"I know they got a sizable area going again (on Tuesday)," he said. "They went back to check it today and we're the ones who discovered it. We're right back at it."

The fire has burnt-out a half-moon shaped area in the woods up a slope and about 30 yards behind homes on the street.

A firefighter on the scene said that because of the heavily wooded area of fire, firefighters face the danger of trees burnt out at their base and toppling over.

Firefighters ran through backyards on Dexter Road, running hoses from the engines up to the fire.

Check back at Melrose Patch for more developments.