Pockets of flames were popping up all around Salem, Peabody, and Lynn overnight, as more than 130 acres of brush have burned in this North Shore wildfire since Saturday.
Right along Highland Avenue by the Walmart, the hillside was on fire on Monday morning. Firefighters pulled up and were able to quickly extinguish the flames. The problem is the brush remains dry, there’s still a breeze, and with the fire in the ground and more than 80 acres burning in this fire alone, it’s difficult to completely put it out.
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“There’s hundreds of stump and tree branches still smoldering and burning out there. We’ll be working some of those areas closest to the houses just to put those out and alleviate some of those concerns," Salem Fire Chief Alan Dionne said.
There were several wildfires burning throughout the state over the weekend – from Millbury, where one person died in a brush fire at an encampment, to here in Salem. And without rain in the forecast, the concern is fires like the one in Salem will just keep burning.
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With limited access to the sprawling fire, crews are essentially containing it and moving firefighting apparatus around to put out flames and hot spots when they get near homes or businesses.
“It does make me nervous because I heard about the red flags for the past few weeks so that’s been kind of scary," said Betsey Cassidy, who lives near the brush fires.
Meanwhile in Middleton and Reading, a brush fire continues to burn near the reservoir there. The concern in that community was it was close to the power lines on Upton Hills Road.
In fact, several brush fires are burning in multiple communities across the Bay State, which is sending smoke billowing up into the sky and sparking calls to first responders throughout the region.
Fire crews say there’s just an elevated risk everywhere because of the extremely dry conditions.
“You could smell the ash, that’s all. I got kind of clogged up, but I can smell the ash,” added Jim Heaphy of Lynn.
Tanisha Miller said, “It’s like burning your nose and your throat and everything, so hope they figure it out.”
Firefighters in Salem are getting help from Task Force 16, which is deploying tanker trucks, brush trucks and additional manpower to three or four strategic locations, primarily working with ground crews Monday.
“Each strike team will just work in those areas and try to darken down what’s burning and move it out to areas that have already burned and maybe extinguish some of the nuisance fires," Dionne said.
While crews try to contain the fire from the ground, they’ll also be putting up a couple drones to get a better view of where to need to send manpower next. With Halloween just three days away, the hope is this can be contained enough that the smoke isn’t as bad as thousands descend on this community.
