WESTFIELD – Crews continued to fight a fire Wednesday that had already burned 60 acres at the Westfield watershed.
Crews from the Russell and Westfield fire departments began searching for the fire around noon Tuesday after receiving several reports of smoke in the area of the watershed.
Firefighters discovered the fire around 3:30 p.m. on Tekoa Mountain, which is in a rural area in Montgomery and Russell and near the village of Wyben in northwest Westfield, according to Easthampton Fire Chief David Mottor.
Crews began fighting the fire Tuesday afternoon.
“They were up on the mountain until dark last night and then they had the State Police Air Wing helicopter using infrared camera to map out the area of the fire,” Mottor said Wednesday.
At that point it was estimated that the fire had burned 58 acres.
The helicopter was deployed again Wednesday morning and it was determined that the fire had grown to about 11 acres.
Some 80 firefighters from 30 local fire departments and state agencies were on the scene Wednesday morning. By 2 p.m., 90 percent of the fire had been contained and a total 60 acres had been burned, Mottor said.
Firefighters from departments in Westfield, Russell and Huntington planned to remain on scene until Wednesday night to do a “final mop up” of the fire, Mottor said.
The fire has not caused any damage to structures and there have been no injuries reported.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, but Mottor said it was likely not caused by natural causes – there was no lightning in the area Wednesday and no power lines in the vicinity.
“I think it’s safe to say it was set,” Mottor said. “We don’t know if it was on purpose or an accident.”
An increased risk of brush fires comes from very dry air and a breeze.
“The weather does often play a role,” William Babcock, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton said Wednesday. “Usually we’re thinking relative humidity under 30 percent and winds gusting to at least 20 mph, if not more.”
The relative humidity was between 35 and 50 percent Tuesday, according to measurements taken at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport
Other favorable factors for brush fires include dry soil and dry brush.
But Babcock noted that certain weather or ground conditions do not automatically guarantee a brush fire.
Crews from Montgomery, Westfield, Russell, Huntington, Palmer, Ware, Easthampton, Westover Air Reserve Base, Blandford, Pittsfield, Windsor, Lanesboro, Great Barrington, Richmond, Greenfield, Turners Falls, Bernardston, Gill, Montague Center, Colrain, Northfield, Northampton, Granby, Belchertown, Amherst, South Hadley District 2 fire departments and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Massachusetts State Police, the state Department of Fire Services and the Department of Conservation and Recreation responded.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com.