State Crews to Monitor Site of 50-Acre Brush Fire in Lyme

LYME – A roughly 50-acre brush fire that threatened two homes in the woods between Becket Hill Road and Grassy Hill Road yesterday is contained and will be monitored. 

Lyme Fire Company Deputy Chief Sam Adams in a phone call this morning said the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was set to return to the area to assess the situation. He said he did not see signs of fire when he drove by early in the day. 

He said the fire, which was called in around 1:54 p.m. Wednesday, was largely extinguished when local crews were sent home around 6:20 p.m.

The state agency kept a crew on scene overnight to monitor hot spots. 

There were no injuries or damage to property, according to Adams.

About 38 firefighters from multiple jurisdictions arrived Wednesday afternoon to find flames moving up the ridgeline toward a house at the top of Becket Hill, Adams said. 

He counted 15 firefighters from the Lyme Fire Company. 

He said the DEEP was brought in when crews sent into the woods saw the fire spreading toward another house. 

Also responding were East Haddam Fire Department, Salem Volunteer Fire Company, Old Saybrook Fire Department, Old Lyme Fire Department, Montville Fire Co #1, Essex Fire Engine Co. #1, Niantic Fire Department, Flanders Fire Department and Lyme Ambulance Association. 

Crews of two or three firefighters each were sent out in compact, maneuverable utility vehicles affixed with water tanks, according to Adams. Some used rakes and leaf blowers to create a fire line about six to eight feet wide in front of the flames.

“The hope is that when the fire reaches that point, there’s no more material for it to actually burn,” he said. 

Calm winds prevented embers from “jumping the fire line” and helped prevent flames from spreading past the barrier created by the firefighters, according to Adams. 

Lyme Fire Company in a social media post credited Essex Fire Marshal John Planas for bringing in a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera. The drone, which flew for the duration of the incident, allowed for more refined tactics and a rapid reduction in the size of the fire.

“That was a very, very big help as far as getting eyes on top of the fire and kind of seeing what direction it was headed,” Adams said.

The deputy chief expected to hear from the DEEP with an assessment of conditions in the afternoon.