Vermont Forest Fires Burn As Dry, Warm Spring Rolls On

Forest fire in Killington, as seen from Route 4. Photo by
Paul Holmes, via The Mountain Times

A stubborn forest fire in Killington that has been burning since Saturday re-intensified Wednesday as dry conditions in and around Vermont have officials pleading with people to be careful with outdoor flames. 

The Killington fire started Saturday when a new land owner decided to burn brush and slash from previous logging operations on their rugged property in the Green Mountains near Route 4. 

According to The Mountain Times, the landowner did not have a burn permit, which is required in Killington and most Vermont towns before you can set your brush pile alight. 

The land owner has so far not been publicly identified. 

The Killington fire warden said the new landowner might not have known they needed a burn permit, but that's no excuse.  

Also, duh!! Just walking into the woods and fields on Saturday, or yesterday for that matter, would have immediately told you conditions are dry and you might want to wait for wetter conditions before you burn brush. Fire wardens across the state are disinclined to issue burn permits until things get wetter out there.

For the record, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation lists today's fire danger in the entire state as high. 

So far, the Killington fire is burning pretty far away from any homes and businesses and no structures are threatened. But it is on steep, very difficult to access terrain, making it hard to fight. 

Since Saturday, personnel from at least 10 fire departments from in and near Rutland County have been battling the fire, reports The Mountain Times. The fire appeared to be largely under control by later Sunday as crews raked fire lines to contain the flames. 

However, it was obvious the fire had re-flared Wednesday, as smoke rose from a hillside north of Route 4. Before Wednesday, the fire had burned around 25 acres, which is much bigger than average for a Vermont forest fire.  

The forest fire danger across Vermont is 
high today. No outdoor burning, please!

According to northeastwildfire.org, the average size of a Vermont forest fire is only about two acres or less. The Green Mountain State usually sees between 200 and 400 of these mostly small fires annually, mostly in the spring.

In the distant past, Vermont had much worse forest fires. In 1908, a total of 106 wildfires burned16,000 acres.  Fires in 1903 burned 5,000 acres. 

Back in Killington, the weather is not cooperating with firefighters.  

Warm temperatures and low humidity are allowing the woods to dry out further, and encouraging the fire. Forecasts call for temperatures in the 80s this afternoon with relative humidity quite low - in the 20 to 30 percent range.  

Some showers and thunderstorms are possible Saturday and likely on Sunday, but it's unclear whether those showers will amount to all that much. 

The Mountain Times said two smaller forest fires broke out in central Vermont in recent days.  One fire in Pittsfield was also started by an out of state landowner who set a brush pile alight without a permit. Another fire near Chittenden Reservoir was quickly contained.

Much more distant wildfires are affecting Vermont, too. The sky was hazy yesterday, and you'll notice the same today.  That's because winds are carrying smoke aloft from fires in southern and central Canada into New England.

Western New York is under an air quality alert today, in part due to particulates from fires embedded in this haze.