NORTHAMPTON — A pile of brush and debris caught fire at Look Park about 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Flames and smoke could be seen shooting up over the tree line which separates the park from the former Look Restaurant on Route 9.
Shawn Porter, executive director of Look Park, said he was alerted by one of the park’s maintenance employees who saw flames coming up from the area where the park dumps trees and brush pruned from the property.
Porter said the employee also reported seeing a person in a baseball cap quickly leaving the scene.
Deputy Fire Chief Christopher W. Norris said Saturday evening that Northampton police and fire departments are still investigating the cause of the fire.
A Police Department spokesman said Saturday night that the fire remains under investigation and there has been no determination about whether it was arson.
“By the time I got here it was a big ball of flame,” Porter said. I think it went up pretty quickly.”
Porter said he would be surprised if 10 minutes went by between the call and the arrival of the fire engines. “I was happy to see the Fire Department get here and I couldn’t believe how quickly they made it.”
Two engines and seven firefighters responded to the blaze and sprayed it with water and foam.
“This was a labor-intensive fire to put out because of the volume of fuel and the dry conditions,” Norris said. “It was a deep-seated fire that had gone into the ground and it took them four hours to put it out.”
Tim Kostek, maintenance director at the park, assisted firefighters once the flames were brought under control by using one of the park’s excavators to spread out the debris so it could be further hosed down.
The park Saturday hosted the “Amourasaurus II” music festival at the Pines Theater. The fire was on the opposite side of the park from the theater.
Norris said firefighters had just left Look Park when they were called to an oven fire in a home at 62 Chestnut St. in Florence
“It was an active fire when we got there but we were able to knock it down, pull out the stove and ventilate the home,” Norris said.
A short time later, a propane grill fire started at 20 Fox Farms Road in Florence. Norris said that was easily brought under control.