The wildfire in East Mountain State Forest – officially dubbed the Butternut Fire – has burned more than 100 acres across rugged elevation in the southeastern quadrant of Berkshire County, sending massive plumes of smoke over the region. From their field headquarters at the former Great Barrington Fairgrounds site, officials briefed reporters Tuesday afternoon.
“In the early twilight last evening, Great Barrington Fire Department was notified that there may be a wildland fire on East Mountain, which is the range behind us," said Lee Fire Chief Ryan Brown, the public information officer for the wildfire response. “By 9 o'clock, they had crews on the fire, and they had determined that the safety of the crews was very important because of the dangerous terrain, so they went into an overwatch position, which basically means they observed the fire from a safe distance, making sure that the public and the firefighters were always kept safe. Early this morning, we started mobilizing local crews for the purpose of fighting this fire.”
State officials stressed that Great Barrington’s restraint overnight was the right call.
“There have been two firefighter fatalities in our region at the start of this wildfire run – one in Connecticut and one in New York – from folks fighting these fires, and we've had a lot of near misses from dead snags coming down," said Chief Fire Warden of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Dave Celino. "That's why the folks here at the Great Barrington Fire Department made right decision to not engage in this fire last night. This is not threatening any values at risk, and there's no benefit to putting lives at risk ahead of it.”
Celino says ongoing drought conditions Massachusetts have led to an explosion of fires across the commonwealth.
“In October, we saw wildland fire activity ramp up, and on the six-year average in Massachusetts, we typically would see anywhere from 15 to 20 wildfires in the month of October. And we went over 200 fires this year in October," he said. "And in November, on the six-year average, just to give you sort of a feel for the extent of the situation, the six-year average is about 20 wildfires in the month of November, and we just went over 400, with big acreages, large fires. And it's all the result of drought driven indices across the state.”
Celino estimated that Massachusetts is operating with a deficit of around 7 inches of rainfall, meaning that expected precipitation coming later in the week will be unlikely to remedy the situation.
“That fire is chewing through that pine stand up there on the ridge top," he explained. "It's a backing fire right now, but it's a backing fire against the wind because all of that pine needle duff underneath it is super dry, it is ready to burn.”
While it remains undetermined, the origin of the fire is almost certainly human-caused.
“We have not had any thunderstorm development in October or November with lightning, and so we know that all of these fires are human-caused fires," said Celino. "So, there's a human behavior factor, and so most communities across Massachusetts have burn bans in effect. Other neighboring states- In New York, it's the same thing, and Connecticut, it's the same thing. But day after day, our local fire departments are responding to illegal burns in the backyards of residences or campfires. Many of these fires are starting from abandoned campfires.”
Over the course of the day, around 80 members of fire departments from around the Southern Berkshires and beyond were on site attempting to contain the fire. The Massachusetts Army National Guard, Massachusetts State Police, and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency are among the statewide agencies participating in the response.
Celino says Great Barrington will be in it for the long haul.
“We've got fires this size across the state that are going into their third and fourth week, and this is really like- It's a fire situation that is somewhat comparable to what we see out west," he said. "Different landscape, a different fuel type, but the conditions are similar, right? It's drought driven, so, these fires are going to burn deep, they're going to burn in heavy fuels. And it just takes- It's going to take a long time. It takes a season ending event now, which shouldn't be that far off, right? It’s snow, or it's going to be several days of precipitation that really soaks into the fuels.”
Throughout the day, helicopters dumped water sourced from the Butternut Ski Area on the western side of the range onto the smoldering ridge.
Firefighters are keeping their distance.
“There's crews up there, but they're very strategic in where they put themselves and putting leaf blower lines in," said Celino. "We blow the leaf litter away and create fire line, and so they're picking away at that so that at some point over the next few days, and with precip on Thursday – that's what we’re all hoping for – will give that fire a chance to sort of back into some containment lines. And that's when, all of a sudden, you start to see the containment percentage appear on the map.”
While officials say there is no risk to residents or property from the fire and that no evacuation order is planned, the Great Barrington selectboard held an impromptu meeting in the afternoon to declare a local state of emergency.
Locals interested in donating to the ongoing effort can bring items to the Claire Teague Senior Center between 8:30 and 3:30 Wednesday. Water can be brought to the former Great Barrington Fairgrounds site.
