Brush fire in Ludlow burns 16.5 acres; fire crews continue to work fire today

By Cara Philbin
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC

A brush fire that broke out in Ludlow on Saturday afternoon burned 16 acres and required assistance from more than 15 area fire departments to contain the burn as wind continued to whip through the region. The fire continued to burn after dark on Saturday, when crews were pulled out because the fire had been contained and because of the hazards of fighting fires in the woods at night.

Firefighters then returned on Sunday to continue their work. As of Sunday night, the cause and origin of the fire are unknown.

According to Ludlow Fire Chief Ben Whalen, multiple people called 911 to report the fire, with “phones ringing off the hook.” He said at least 60 regional firefighters responded to the Saturday call.

Jaycob Palmer, a Proctorsville firefighter, arrived via Twenty Mile Stream Road to the lakes region fire, which, at that time, had spread west from Glebe Road to 130 East Lake Road. He was one of the first on the scene, together with the Ludlow Fire Department.

“I arrived around 2 p.m. with Ludlow, but it took us a while to find it,” Palmer said. He was part of a crew of firefighters stationed throughout the woods with rakes and leaf blowers to move dry leaves and other combustible materials out of the fire’s path. The green grass underneath is less likely to conduct the burn.

“I came from East Lake Road and over this ledge, and we just started scouring the woods. The smoke was so thick, you couldn’t see where it was. I was trying to get ahead of it, but it was steep and spreading pretty fast,” Palmer said.

The Chester Telegraph arrived at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday to find the woods at the bottom of the fire, down by East Lake Road, filled with smoke and ash, with wind rapidly pushing the fire southwest. On Saturday, the fire had burned so far into the woods that trucks could not reach most of it so firefighters transported hoses using ATVs, then “carried the rest of the lines by hand,” Whalen told The Telegraph as he oversaw continued efforts on Sunday. “We added, say, 800 feet of hose on each flank going up,” he added.

Firefighters also set fire lines to contain the burn to protect nearby homes. But even though the fire was mostly within those lines, by late afternoon on Saturday, Whalen said, he called for additional manpower and equipment to help keep it under control. That included forestry equipment, such as special clothing, hoses, rakes, chainsaws, and UTVs set up for off-road and wildfire fighting. Whalen said the Killington Fire Department provided much of the forestry equipment.

“It was contained by 4:45 p.m., but we still needed more personnel to keep it that way,” Whalen said. He added that they had enough control by 9 p.m. that he was able to clear crews for the night because the hazards of working in the woods after dark made the risk outweigh the reward of staying on site. “With the location and containment we had, I felt confident our lines shouldn’t get breached and didn’t feel it was necessary to keep them out there all night,” Whalen said.

“When we left (on Saturday), it had burned around 10 acres, and there were still lots of hotspots,” he said. “Depending on how dry it is, the fire will burn into the (soil) and into the ground, so we have to dig into those areas. There are fire spots and trees on fire.”

Crews were called back early Sunday morning. By that afternoon, the fire had burned approximately 16.5 acres, “which is a good size fire for Vermont,” and likely crossed multiple properties, Whalen said.

“You typically see wildland fire conditions in the spring, when the snow melt is gone and greenery hasn’t yet come in, and then again in the fall,” he said. “Once all that vegetation has dried out, unless we’re getting active rainfall, the opportunity for wildfires is high, until we get a snowpack.”

Vermont has not had this type of extended dry weather, known as “red flag conditions,” for two years, Whalen said. During this type of weather, the risk of having simultaneous fires is so high that fire departments need to have equipment prepared for use elsewhere.

This occurred on Sunday, when many of the crews who had responded to Ludlow on Saturday had been redirected to a brush fire in Barnard. The Ludlow fire still had an equal number of responders on Sunday as it did on Saturday — approximately 60 — but they represented a different selection of towns.

Besides Ludlow, crews that worked either one or both days include Ascutney, Bridgewater, Chester, Hartland, Killington, Mount Holly, Plymouth, Proctorsville, Reading, Rockingham, Rutland Town, Shrewsbury, Springfield, Wallingford, West Weathersfield, West Windsor, Westminster, Weston and Woodstock.

“We could not have done this without our mutual aid partners,” Whalen told The Telegraph. “It’s pretty evident how much of a team effort this is.”

The Sunday response also included state agencies and teams, including four members of the Unmanned Aerial Systems unit, which is part of the Vermont Hazardous Materials Response Team, that used a drone to map out the fire and identify hot spots. “We cover the entire state and were called in for aerial support,” said Ben Priggen, a lieutenant with the Vermont HAZMAT UAS team, who was on-site in Ludlow.

The Agency of Natural Resources also assisted by walking the perimeter of the fire and providing guidance on how to manage it moving forward. Whalen said they expect the fire to burn “until we get a good rain, which looks like a week from tomorrow,” and that Ludlow remains under red flag conditions, until it rains.

“That’s why it’s so important to keep this burn under control. We need to be prepared for other woodland fires,” he said.

The Ludlow Fire Department issued a burn ban on Oct. 23 that remains in effect “until we receive significant rainfall,” Whalen said. All of Vermont is listed as High and Very High for fire danger today, with all of southern Vermont in the Very High forecast. Click here for daily updates on fire danger in your area.