Trumbull and Monroe firefighters battle brush fire deep in park woods

Written by Jeff Forde | 21 March 2010

Trumbull and Monroe firefighters battle brush fire deep in park woods
Richard Weizel, STAFF WRITER
Published: 10:32 p.m., Friday, March 19, 2010

TRUMBULL -- About 16 firefighters from Trumbull and neighboring Monroe battled a stubborn brush fire covering about two acres on a steep hill deep in the woods of Old Mine Park in Trumbull for more than an hour early Friday night, according to Alex Rauso, assistant chief of the Long Hill Volunteer Fire Department.

Rauso, who headed his Trumbull unit's effort, said the department was aided by the Stevenson Fire Department in Monroe, which provided a brush truck to help extinguish the blaze that was limited to mostly wild brush and trees.

"The toughest part was finding the location and getting to it, that took a while because it was so deep in the woods and up on a hill and we had to drag heavy fire equipment there," Rauso said. "We were on the scene about 2 1/2 hours. Once we found the fire, it took little over an hour to bring it under control."

Rauso said a call came in about 6 p.m. from a neighbor of the town-owned park on Old Mine Road, who reported seeing smoke spreading in the park, which covers hundreds of acres. The assistant fire chief said there were no injuries and the fire is not considered suspicious at this time. He said, however, that the town Fire Marshal's Office will conduct an investigation to determine the cause.

"There's no ignition sources out there, and we didn't see any obvious any signs of anybody there," Rauso said. "Right now, we don't know what started it." He said the scene was cleared by 8:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environmental Protection's Forest Fire Control Office on Friday indicated the forest fire danger level for Friday was considered high, and there were several brush fires in woods at other locations around the state.

"Connecticut traditionally experiences high forest fire danger in the spring from mid-March through May," according to a statement released by the Division of Forestry, which constantly monitors the danger of forest fire to help protect Connecticut's 1.8 million acres of forested land. In an average year approximately 1,300 acres of Connecticut woodland are scorched by forest fires.

Written by :

Jeff Forde