Fire Officials: Conditions Are Prime For Brush Fires
BOSTON (CBS) - The National Weather Service has issued another red flag warning Sunday. Fire officials say conditions are prime for brush fires.
It's the third time a red flag warning has been issued this season, which means another day spent monitoring and triangulating the woods for brush fires from the Sudbury Fire Tower.
"Detection is the number one responsibility and that's why we are here in the fire towers on such high-class days," Tom Muise, District Fire Warden for the Bureau of Forest Fire Control, told WBZ-TV's Julie Loncich.
Dry leaves and sparse rain have fire officials concerned.
"The leaves have not completely bloomed on the trees so with the higher temperatures, lower relative humidity, it's actually getting below the canopy and it's drying out all the fuels that are on the ground," Muise said.
Despite record snowfall, officials say conditions are extremely dry. With no measurable rainfall in three weeks, an average of 40 or more wild land fires have been reported each day in the state since Monday.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation is urging citizens to use extreme caution around campfires.
Brush fires have cropped up in several Massachusetts communities recently, including Clarksburg State Park and Sandwich.