Georgetown Firefighters Battle 30 Acre Woods Fire
Late in the afternoon of Sunday April 11th, as most people were enjoying a beautiful warm Spring afternoon, the Georgetown Fire Tower spotted a large loom-up of smoke in the area near the Thurlow Street power lines. At first it was thought the fire was in West Newbury and WNFD apparatus was dispatched to an area in their town. When West Newbury was unable to confirm a location new coordinates were drawn and Georgetown was toned out. Car 3, Deputy Chief Russ Moyer, was already out investigating a smoke condition in another area and headed out to this location. Working in coordination with the Fire Tower, Car 3 was able to locate an access point at the power lines on Thurlow Street. Georgetown apparatus, Combo 4 and Forestry 2, were the first units to start in on the long trek into the fire area about a mile off the
road. Units were reporting difficult access due to washed out roads and downed
trees from the winter's storms. Once at the scene they reported an extremely large fire actively burning with flames reaching 5 to 8 feet into the brush and a very active wind carrying burning debris into unburned areas. Hearing this Car 3 began to move up out-of-town brush units in anticipation of a long-haul operation. Chief of Department Al Beardsley arrived on scene and command was transferred to Car 1 while Car 3 established a combination staging, logistics and accountability area. Car 1 jumped on board Georgetown Brush 1 with a crew to begin the long drive into the woods. Once inside the fire area a request was put in for the State Police helicopter for observation purposes. The State Police helicopter was on scene in 45 minutes after leaving its hanger on the south shore. Car 2, Deputy
Rusty Ricker, proceeded to the landing zone at the Middle High School where he boarded the chopper to provide
needed eyes above the fire for Car 1. Car 2 reported an area approximately 1 1/2 miles by 3/4 of a mile burned or burning. This was about 30-35 acres. Fortunately by bringing in a large number of specialized brush firefighting vehicles right away crews were able to put up a good front to stop the advancing fire. Crews began mop-up operations at approximately 7 pm and were back in quarters by 9:30 pm. A special thanks goes out to the many responders that included Boxford, Byfield, Rowley, Middleton and the State DCR at the fire scene. As well as Boxford and Groveland for providing engine companies for station cover and to Byfield for providing an ambulance to stand-by. A special thanks goes to Roger Baker and the team from Rehab 5 for providing
refreshments at the fire scene to exhausted firefighters. Crews were back at the fire scene Monday morning to look for hot spots and recover equipment. Exact cause of the fire is undetermined but a recent camp fire was found at the base of the fire scene.
People are reminded that camp fires are not permissible in any area, and that careless disposal of smoking materials in the woods can lead to serious consequences. Please be careful when walking in the woods and take care in disposal of smoking material.
Photos Courtesy of Rick Palardy
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