SAUGUS — A brush fire that broke out in Breakheart Reservation Monday evening was knocked down by Saugus and Department of Conservation and Recreation firefighters by Tuesday afternoon, said DCR Chief Fire Warden Dave Celino.
Celino said the pipeline fire, as it has been dubbed, “probably will hold” at 22 acres, and crews were in the reservation “mopping it up around the edges” and monitoring for hot spots. A lack of precipitation over the last 10 days, he said, left Breakheart lined with “super dry fuels,” meaning the fire could spread quickly through the park. That, combined with low humidity and wind, meant crews combated challenging conditions as they sought to contain the brush fire.
The dry, windy conditions in the reservation forced DCR and Saugus companies to adjust their approach to combatting the blaze.
“Rather than go direct into some of the rougher terrain, it’s safer and more successful for us for the fires to come down to a barrier … where we can hold them in place,” Celino said. “That’s what we did with this [and] we had almost immediate success in 12 hours.”
DCR is “seeing an uptick in how quickly these fires spread” because the fuels are “super dry and ready to burn,” he added.
Conditions inside Breakheart also complicated the response because of its “rolling, rugged terrain,” which meant the fire kept spreading overnight Monday.
“Dry conditions kept it backing down the slopes,” Celino said.
The fire spread through the area of Breakheart northeast of the visitors’ center and initially threatened three structures, Celino said. No structures were still threatened by the blaze as of Tuesday afternoon.
Celino encouraged residents in Saugus and across the Commonwealth to pay close attention to the conditions around them when they’re outside, noting that 98 percent of fires statewide are caused by humans.
“Any spark can start these fires,” he said. “Everything from a spark off a muffler, to a discarded cigarette butt, to a cooking fire that’s been unattended.”
“We ask the public to really adhere to the warnings that are out there,” Celino added.
Saugus Fire officials could not be reached for comment on the blaze Tuesday afternoon.
