A brush fire near Interstate 91 in Greenfield forced state police to close a southbound lane early Tuesday afternoon
4-28-13 - Holyoke firefighters and Massachusetts State Police respond to a brush fire along I-91 southbound by the rest area. The fire has forced officials to close one of the travel lanes on Interstate 91. SPRINGFIELD - Fire officials throughout Western Massachusetts warn of increased fire danger as dry weather continues and forests have yet to green.
“It’s very dry out there,” said Westfield Deputy Fire Chief Mark Devine. “It doesn’t take much to get brush going.”
A brush fire near Interstate 91 in Greenfield forced state police to close a southbound lane for a short time early Tuesday afternoon as firefighters worked to put it out. It broke out near the off-ramp just north of Exit 26 which serves the Route 2 rotary.
The fire was reported shortly before 12:45 p.m. and scorched an area of about 100 yards by 100 yards, Fire Capt. Kyle Phelps said.
CBS3 meteorologists forecast dry and sunny weather through at least next Tuesday.
William Simpson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, said light winds and dry conditions will likely pose an elevated fire risk on Friday.
“You always have to contend with fire danger, especially before the green-up,” Simpson said.
Hadley firefighters responded to, and extinguished, an illegal burn in the Rocky Hill Road area on Tuesday afternoon. A single burning bush, meanwhile, was reported at High Pine Circle in Wilbraham.
Those two fires did not spread, officials said.
A brush fire, which started late Sunday morning on the south side of Interstate 91 in Holyoke, closed one lane of the highway. backing up traffic for more than five miles.
Statewide, the open burning season ends Tuesday, Devine said, however, that the Westfield Fire Department has not allowed open burning for several days due to the lack of rain. “It’s basically done for the rest of the year,” he said.
The Massachusetts open burning season starts Jan. 15.
The Holyoke fire was reported at about 11:45 a.m. near the rest area just north of Exit 17 near the Mount Tom Reservation. It burned about 15 acres of woods, said Lt. Thomas Paquin, spokesman for the Holyoke Fire Department.