FOLKS ... it really is dry out there ... please ...



SAUGUS RIVER TRAIL FIRE   May 25

All fires on state land are being held in monitor/patrol status for a few days to make sure perimeter's are secure given very low surface fuel moistures and increasing drought conditions in organic soil layers.

HEMENWAY HILLS FIRE May 25th update

Fire activity remained active again today with moderate wind gusts developing over the fire by mid morning. 

• A change in strategy helped slow fire growth and increase containment after todays operational period. 
• Crews from District 4, 1, and 3 conducted a burn out operation, which anchored the north and west flanks of the fire to Eustias Trail.  
• A sawyer was ordered from Forestry to mitigate a number of burning dead trees, which were the source of embers and spot fires that compromised containment efforts. 
• The fire remains actively smoldering on the interior and burning moderately deep in upper soil layers.  
• Containment increased to 60%. 
• Updated map will be available tomorrow.

MAY 24 - FIRES  2301 hour update

May 24 HEMENWAY HILL - MILTON  2130 hour update

• The fire continued to actively burn today along the northern perimeter as a period of gusty winds combined with high temperatures and low humidity settled in on the region.  
• Short range spotting over containment lines in extremely dry light surface fuels impeded efforts to increase containment during todays operational period.  
• The fire saw slow to moderate growth during the wind event today, increasing to approximately 21 acres by end of day.  
• Crews are currently reassessing the strategy, making adjustment for the increasing moderate drought conditions in the fuel type, including use of existing trail infrastructure to the north and east as holding points to achieve containment.  
• Fire is burning in a remote area of the reservation with no immediate values at risk.

... HEMENWAY HILL FIRE - 1730 hour update

• The Hemenway Fire is within the Blue Hills Reservation and located approximately 1/2 mile northwest of the State Police Barracks at Houghton's Pond and along the Sky Line Trail.  
• The fire is currently 12 acres with slow to moderate growth expected along the northern perimeter due to very dry fuel conditions in rugged terrain.  
• Fire behavior has been active surface fire in surface leaf litter and some standing dead fuels with moderate burning into the dry upper soil layers, making full containment a challenge. 
• Short range spotting over the line has occurred due to low relative humidity and very low fine fuel moistures in fuels up to 3" in diameter.  
• Multiple local fire departments along with DCR Fire and Rangers are engaged on the fire and planning for multiple operational periods to achieve full containment in the next few days.

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

HEMENWAY FIRE - MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS   1900 / May 23rd - Update

• within the Blue Hills Reservation 
• located approximately 1/2 mile NW of the State Police Barracks at Houghton’s Pond and along the Sky Line Trail
• fire is currently 12 acres
• slow to moderate growth expected along the northern perimeter due to very dry fuel conditions in rugged terrain  
• Fire Behavior has been active surface fire in surface leaf litter and some standing dead fuels with moderate burning into the dry upper soil layers, making full containment a challenge 
• short range spotting over the line has occu days rred due to low RH and very low fine fuel moistures in fuels up to 3" in diameter
• multiple local fire departments along with STATE_DCR Fire and Rangers are engaged on the fire and planning for multiple operational periods to achieve full containment in the next few days 

May 21, 2015  Prescribed Fire / Mass Division of Fish and Wildlife's managed area /Falmouth

Did'ja Know? ...  

                   that the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest on Martha's Vineyard, once was home to 

                         the last surviving Heath Hen ...

Now extinct, but then strutting through the brush, male Heath Hens boomed and pounded the earth to attract a mate.  Each year, returning to their breeding grounds, they engaged in spectacular displays of bravado and strength, jumping and spinning in the air, thrusting their chests against one another, as they competed for the right to propagate their species.  

When European settlers arrived on the east coast, they hunted the bird so extensively that servants bargained not to be fed Heath Hens more than two or three times a week.  The Heath Hen's habitat stretched along the coast of New England from Maine to Virginia.  but by 1870, due to overexploitation, the Heath Hen population on the mainland of the east coast had vanished.  

Numbering in the 100's, the survivors lived on Martha's Vineyard.  Over the next quarter of a century, the state of Massachusetts attempted to save them:  enacting a hunting ban, shooting predatory animals, planting crops to feed the hens, and establishing a 'heath hen reserve' (now the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest)  in 1908. But numbers continued to diminish. A disastrous fire, an unusually harsh winter,  the unfortunate arrival of goshawks, a serious Heath Hen predator, and a poultry disease ravaged the remaining population.

Heath hens usually flew only to the lower branches of trees.  But in 1929 ornithologists witnessed a hopeful male (named Booming Ben) fly to the top of a tree and call out loud and repeatedly across the island.  There were no Heath Hens to hear his pleas.  He was last seen on March 11, 1932.

essay by Todd McGrain / Lost Bird Project  (repeated here mostly in its entirety with a few informational items taken from other documentation)

  

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT ~ NWS     

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
412 AM EDT WED MAY 20 2015

...ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER RISK ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS TODAY...

A DRY AIRMASS WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION TODAY ALONG WITH GUSTY
NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH. THIS WILL RESULT IN MINIMUM
RELATIVE HUMIDITIES BETWEEN 30 TO 35 PERCENT ACROSS
MASSACHUSETTS.

DESPITE YESTERDAY/S SHOWERS GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS TODAY COMBINED
WITH A VERY DRY AIRMASS WILL RAPIDLY DRY OUT ANY RESIDUAL TOP
LAYER GROUND MOISTURE. AS SUCH LOCAL FIRE WEATHER OFFICIALS HAVE
ADVISED OF AN ELEVATED FIRE SPREAD POTENTIAL DUE TO THE DRY AND
WINDY CONDITIONS FORECAST TODAY.

http://1.usa.gov/KMb6Fm

MASSACHUSETTS: Wildland Fire Assistance available

The Volunteer Fire Assistance grant round is open to eligible communities meeting requirements.  Applications are due back to DCR by June 12 for award consideration.

These grants are available to non-profit rural call or volunteer fire departments that primarily serve a community or city with a population of less than 10,000. The fire department must be made up of at least eighty percent (80%) call or volunteer firefighters, be recognized as a department under state law and be National Incident Management System compliant.

The VFA grant applications must be completed in full and received before June 12, 2015 to be considered for an award. Please submit your VFA grant application to:

DCR Bureaus of Forest Fire Control and Forestry

Attn. Roxanne B. Savoie

Hampton Ponds State Park

1048 North Road/Route 202

Westfield, MA 01085

Application Materials: 2015 VFA Application 

May 19 - possible thunderstorms later today;

FIRE WEATHER PLANNING FORECAST FOR SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
440 AM EDT TUE MAY 19 2015

.DISCUSSION...

RAIN WITH EMBEDDED HEAVIER SHOWERS WILL BE THE STORY THIS MORNING CONTINUING EAST THROUGH AFTERNOON. THIS WILL  ALLOW AREAS ACROSS THE WEST TO CLEAR OUT YIELDING THE LIKELIHOOD FOR REDEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ... SOME OF WHICH MAY BE STRONG TO PERHAPS MARGINALLY SEVERE WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING VERY LOCALIZED STRONG TO DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WITH HAIL A SECONDARY CONCERN.

WET WEATHER ACTIVITY CONTINUES INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. COULD BE LOOKING AT AN AVERAGE OF0.25-INCHES OF TOTAL  RAINFALL OVER SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND.

No Measurable Rainfall in over a Month ~ May 19 
Year to date totals:  920 fires have burned 1,375.85 acres; Massachusetts will welcome rain forecasted for Monday night through Tuesday - no measurable rain has fallen for over a month

May 3, 2015  #MassDCR #Wildfire #update Clarksburg SF 90% containment; #WX http://1.usa.gov/1E5SsMA 

May 2, 2015  #MassDCR Clarksburg SF 10:12am update; 85% containment; DCR State/Local MA & VT firefighters on 272 acre fire;

April 19, 2015 #MassDCR #PrescribedFire West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard; #HabitatImprovement

April 19, 2015  #MassDCR #PrescribedFire West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard; #HabitatImprovement

April 19, 2015  #MassDCR Please be careful with ALL fire! #WildfireAwarenessWeek http://bit.ly/1FX1HQL  @smokey_bear

April 15, 2015 #MassDCR EA Predictive Service videocast http://1.usa.gov/1aVMze7  @WIEACC Elevated Fire Potential Exists

April 13, 2015:  Manuel Correllus State Forest: Massachusetts DCR Forestry and Fire Control  Restores Grassland Habitat on Martha's Vineyard.  State crews conduct its first prescribed fire of the season.  #PrescribedBurning

Find out more about Managing Wildland Fires and prescribed fire at: 1.usa.gov/1ykiXBM