Bristol Forest Fires - Complete Coverage

Live WTNH Video Report:

BRISTOL BIG-TROUBLE

Live WTNH Helicopter Cam:

BRISTOL DOUBLE-TROUBLE

Hartford Courant:

BRISTOL — - About 50 firefighters from the city and three surrounding towns spent most of Thursday battling a pair of persistent brush fires on opposite ends of the city.

The most serious fire created dozens of small blazes in a 15- to 20-acre section of very steep woodland behind Matthews Street, and firefighters were still working into the night to extinguish pockets of burning brush there.

Nobody was hurt and no neighborhoods were evacuated, but fire commanders had to position several crews between the burning woods and houses along Matthews Street.

"I'm willing to lose the woods, but there's no way we'd lose a house," Chief Jon Pose said Thursday evening.

Pose and Mayor Art Ward issued a plea to city residents to be extremely careful to fully extinguish smoldering cigarette butts, matches and backyard grills during the current dry spell that has sharply elevated the risk of brush fires. Super-dry leaves and ground cover coupled with steady breezes make conditions hazardous, even for using outdoor fireplaces, Pose said. Ward said officials suspect the Matthews Street fire might have been triggered by someone burning brush or debris.

Crews from Burlington, Plymouth and Harwinton joined Bristol firefighters around mid-day to dig trenches and haul hoses up the steep ridge behind Matthews near Route 6. Trucks couldn't get close to the flames, so firefighters had to shuttle water up the hills in large bags.

At the end of Debra Lane in the city's northeastern corner, other crews worked through the afternoon to put out a separate brush fire. They were finishing up around 6 p.m.

Pose said he called for help from state firefighters, but they appeared to be stretched thin because of similar fires around the state. He also asked state police for a helicopter to make a water drop on a hard-to-reach section of the Matthews Street fire, but the helicopter wasn't flying.