CUMMINGTON — A brush fire burned a two-acre section of a pasture off Stage Road just before 5 p.m. Monday afternoon, and the smoke could be seen from Plainfield.
Cummington Fire Chief Bernard L. Forgea said the fire, which burned across the street from 434 Stage Road, was caused by a brush pile that had been burned on April 9, yet smoldered undetected until it reignited Monday.
“Once it started to burn again it quickly spread to several other large brush piles that were on the property,” Forgea said.
Fire Departments from Cummington and Planfield, as well as the state Department of Conservation and Recreation District 10 Fire Control responded to the scene after several callers reported large amounts of billowing smoke in the area.
“The crew we had was excellent. They circled it immediately and stopped it from spreading,” Forgea said.
Forgea said that the property owner Roger Wolf, of 154 Nash Road, had obtained a burning permit for April 9 and believed that the brush he was burning was fully extinguished.
“The wood that I was burning had been very wet and spongy,” Wolf said Tuesday. “I don’t think the whole pile burned and hot embers probably got underneath. When the wood dried out, it just went from there.”
Wolf said he was coming home Monday from Plainfield, which is higher in elevation than Cummington. When he looked across the Valley and saw the smoke, he said he thought, “Somebody is brave burning wood on a dry day like this.
“When I got closer I saw that it was actually my property.”
Forgea described the fire as an unfortunate accident.
“I do not consider what he did to be irresponsible. He tried to do the right thing, and he was terribly upset about it,” Forgea said, noting that the lesson learned is that a brush fire is not completely out until it has been sufficiently doused, smothered and stirred, and verified to be extinguished.
According to Forgea, it is not unusual for some embers to smolder undetected for long periods of time under the right conditions. In this case, he said that conditions above ground had been very dry, and the elevation of the field enhanced underground drainage, creating a drier soil environment.
Wolf said that he was grateful for the work done by the firefighters.
“They did a fantastic job and they were very professional,” he said.
“We are just lucky it wasn’t a day like today,” Forgea said Tuesday evening. “With this kind of wind, it could have burned half the county.”
The National Weather Service on Tuesday issued a red flag warning for Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties from noon until 8 p.m. and for Berkshire County from noon until 6 p.m.
“A lot of it has to do with how dry the atmosphere is going to be,” said weather service meteorologist Matthew Belk in Boston. “If water is the antithesis of fire, you don’t have a lot of it in the air.”
The warning is issued when “critical” fire weather conditions are forecast. Dry air – 20 to 30 percent relative humidity – coupled with winds between 10 to 20 mph and gusts of up to 30 mph means that fires can more easily start and spread, according to the weather service.
Belk said another contributing factor to the warning is the recent dry conditions. That means the “fine fuels,” sticks and brush, are dry and readily combustible. “We’re still also pre-greenup,” he said. “Things really haven’t started to blossom yet.”
Wednesday is expected to be drier, though winds will not be as strong. Belk said meteorologists work with state agencies to determine when to issue the fire risk warnings.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com.