NEW SALEM — Route 202 was closed near West Street for at least an hour on Tuesday afternoon as a result of a brush fire on both sides of the highway.
The New Salem Fire Department was dispatched at 4:35 p.m. and summoned mutual aid by calling for a first-alarm brush assignment upon arrival.
“Our crew and our mutual aid partners did great,” Fire Chief Matt O’Donnell said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
He said Sgt. Charles Brooks, of the New Salem Police Department, was the first to arrive and alerted O’Donnell to a large volume of fire that was rapidly approaching two structures. But O’Donnell said the residents of both houses used hoses and buckets to slow the encroaching blaze.
“The actions they took definitely helped protect their homes,” the chief said.
O’Donnell said 1 acre burned until firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze at around 7:30 p.m. However, he said the majority of the fire was under control by 5:30 p.m.
The chief said a motorist that stopped to report the fire mentioned seeing molten brake rotor pieces fall from a truck, which is likely associated with the start of the fire. He said authorities found debris that proved to be consistent with that report.
