Crews Work Eight Hours to Douse 2 Brush Fires

Deputy Chief Karl Gerhard sad two fires, a primary one at Mine Falls Park spanning 3 to 4 acres, and a second one at Lincoln Park kept crews working from about 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. Oct. 27.

The first fire was likely burning for a while in the thick "duff" in the woods, which is a term used to describe combustible debris including dry leaves, branches and pine needles, Gerhard explained. It was called in by someone who was out for a walk Sunday morning. 

Crews arrived to find heavy fire. A tanker from Dunstable, Mass., was called in, and eventually crews resorted to foam brought in by the state to help extinguish the blaze.

Around 11 a.m. a second, separate fire was discovered in the area of Lincoln Park. Neither fire is suspicious, Gerhard said. 

"It's very, very dry out. We haven't gotten a good rain, so the duff layer is very thick. It's hard to deal with those types of incidents," Gerhard said. Such fires can easily be ignited by a lit cigarette tossed from a car window, which smolders and ignites a small wooded area.

"I just want to remind the public to be careful and cautious in discarding smoking materials, to always use approved containers. In fact,  we had a small building fire Sunday afternoon at the same time as the brush fires - it was started by a cigarette up against a window well," Gerhard said.

A Hudson engine was also call in to assist, as well as a Forestry unit from Merrimack Fire. 

"We'll be rechecking these areas all week to make sure the hot spots are taken care of. With the dry weather coming this week, we wouldn't be surprised to get a small flair up," Gerhard said.

The Salvation Army came out to provide drinks and sandwiches to firefighters, who were working from 6 a.m. until about 2 p.m.