FIRE SITUATION BRIEFING -  May 24th - 1200 hours

Summary:  DCR Fire has been prioritizing and providing fire response assistance to a number of communities over the last 3 days.Most activity has occurred in the 

eastern, 

northeastern, and 

central interior portions of the state.  

    

      Fire activity increased over the last 2 days due to 

another influx of dry air bringing warm temps, 

low relative humidity values and 

gusty northwest winds. 

    

     Full green up of the forest canopy helped moderate fire spread by providing shading     

        to the surface fuels, however a serious rainfall deficit and very low fuel moistures   

        continue to render leaf litter and light dead fuels easily combustible. 

    

     Moderate drought conditions are now causing fires to burn into the organic soil 

         layers, making full containment more challenging.  

 

   
   DCR Fire Towers continue to play a pivotal role in spotting fires early, enabling

         town fire departments to catch most fires while they are manageable. 

    

To Date Mass DCR has logged 920 fires and 1,375 acres burned in 2015. 

Active Fires in the last 24 hours:

Northbridge	3      acres	contained	DCR assist
Northboro
Ludlow / Watershed land	13     acres	contained	DCR assist
Hemenway Hill,  Blue Hills Reservation      map below	12     acres	contained / 40%	DCR on scene
Lincoln / Sandy Pond Fire	12.3  acres	contained / 40% /active	DCR on scene
Leominster / watershed land	30     acres	active	2 Task Forces, DCR on scene
Gloucester	8- 10 acres		DCR on scene; no new info