Great Barrington Mass area Butternut Fire "may not be fully extinguished until winter"

[Ear Drum]

Some news coverage of a large wildfire in Western Massachusetts. It is just north of, and quite close to, the Appalachian Trail.


Nov 19 - "Crews to return to fight Butternut Fire in the morning; fire may not be fully extinguished until winter"

GREAT BARRINGTON — The slow-moving wildfire that burned about 100 acres of a remote, forested area on East Mountain as of Tuesday afternoon might not be fully extinguished until winter, given the difficult terrain where it’s burning, a supply of fuel on the forest floor and weeks of drought conditions, officials said.

The Butternut Fire, as it has been named by authorities, required a full morning and afternoon of hard work on Tuesday. The strategy was containment — attacking on foot and by air, with water carried by helicopter, to slow the spread.

Full story and photos:
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/brea...cle_39ee860c-a671-11ef-a97a-3b0fcd9655ab.html



Nov 20 - "Great Barrington wildfire is 'zero percent' contained. 'This one's going to be tough,' fire officials say"

GREAT BARRINGTON — The wildfire in Great Barrington has expanded to an estimated 1,146 acres, with flames now reaching into neighboring Sheffield.

The Butternut Fire, as it has been named by authorities, is zero percent contained, said Lee Fire Chief Ryan Brown during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

Fire burns through trees on mountain
The Butternut Fire seen from Home Road in Sheffield. The Butternut Fire is "zero percent contained," fire officials said Wednesday afternoon.

“In New England, we see our fires get to containment pretty quickly. This one’s going to be tough,” said Dave Celino, chief fire warden of the commonwealth.

Full story and photos:
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news...cle_6a170f30-a760-11ef-b224-bb56a27432d8.html

 

[TomK]

Past couple of days, the odor of smoke from this fire has been very noticible here in NW CT. I am told it is noticeable as far south as Long Island Sound.

Today, I didn't notice it as much. don't know if that's due to getting used to it, or because today's rain has cleaned the air a bit, or that the rain helped put a damper on the fire, or if it is simply due to a shift in the wind direction...

TomK

 

[BillyGr]

Past couple of days, the odor of smoke from this fire has been very noticible here in NW CT. I am told it is noticeable as far south as Long Island Sound.

Today, I didn't notice it as much. don't know if that's due to getting used to it, or because today's rain has cleaned the air a bit, or that the rain helped put a damper on the fire, or if it is simply due to a shift in the wind direction...

TomK

Very likely at least a couple of those. Would suspect that the steady rain is cutting down the fire itself, and certainly washing the smoke out of the air. Wind may have changed as well if there was a storm front arriving.

Can't say it was noticeable further south in the state (such as the Danbury area), but that was Tue when it started and early Wed AM, so it may have gotten more noticeable later yesterday (as it certainly was the closer you got to the fire, certainly at least from the Kent area north).

 

[hikeritz]

The Tom Leonard AT shelter is in there. Hopefully a) the shelter isn't damaged by the fire and b) the fire wasn't started by someone camping there. I stayed there a few years ago, and it's a nice area.