COLRAIN — Residents are being asked to avoid the area of the H.O. Cook State Forest, as Heath and Colrain firefighters work to control a 5-acre wildfire.
Colrain Fire Chief Nicholas Anzuoni said Monday that crews were working to contain the fire, which was caused by a lightning strike on Saturday. The response will take multiple days, but he said there is no need for concern.
“We’ve got about a 5-acre fire in the state forest,” Anzuoni said. “Saturday night, there was a lightning storm that rolled through the area. I think it was smoldering for a while before it picked up into a fire.”
Anzuoni said the Colrain Fire Department received a report of visible smoke in the area on Sunday, and with help from the Greenfield Fire Department’s drone unit, was able to locate the fire on the Colrain/Heath town line.
“Due to the nature of the droughts we’ve had the past few years, we went straight to a second-alarm fire to get a lot of resources on it immediately,” Anzuoni said. “It’ll be a multi-day response. First, we’ll get it contained and then we’ll work on extinguishing it.”
On Monday, Heath, Colrain and Greenfield firefighters were joined by members of the Franklin County Wildland Hand Crew. Anzuoni said he is confident the crews will get the blaze under control, but it will likely take a few days to extinguish it completely.
He added that while the fire is in the forest, and there is no danger of it spreading to any buildings or homes at this time, Cook Forest Road (off Ed Clark Road) and the upper portion of Stetson Brothers Road are closed. Residents are asked to avoid the area while the firefighters are at work.
“The crews are doing good. There’s no need for alarm,” Anzuoni said. “We’re pretty confident there will be no need to evacuate the area and we can keep it contained to a small area.”
