Connecticut grapples with more than 100 wildfires as historic drought continues: officials

More than 100 wildfires have broken out across Connecticut, as state officials warn that the threat of more outdoor fires could last into next year if the historic stretch of drought continues.

According to Richard Schenk, fire marshal for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, officials were actively battling five fires Sunday evening in Berlin, Bristol, East Lyme, Oxford and Roxbury.

Schenk told CT Insider that if weather conditions do not improve, they may continue to work on managing the fires until January, as the state remains at increased risk. He recommended not burning anything outdoors for the time being.

According to Schenk, 111 bushfires are being monitored or are in the early stages of suppression. If it doesn’t rain soon, new fires are likely to break out in the next few days.

The wildfires came as Connecticut faces a record drought and an eight-inch rainfall deficit over the past two months, state officials said.

Over the weekend, one of the largest wildfires to date broke out at Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme, Connecticut. The fire, which burned nearly 50 acres, was so bad that firefighters traveled from California to help, Fox 61 reported. Crews from Quebec also came to help, NBC Connecticut reported.

The Rocky Neck fire has not yet been extinguished and the park will remain closed until conditions improve, East Lyme officials said.

A fire in Berlin, Connecticut, proved to be worse than the East Lyme fire. The Lamentation Mountain fire is currently the largest in the state and has been burning for two weeks straight, Berlin Fire Chief Jonn Massirio told CT Insider.

The ongoing Berlin fire, dubbed the Hawthorne Fire by crews, has reached over 100 acres – and was only 50 percent secured as of Sunday, Massirio told the News Times.

There were ten bushfires between October 31st and November 1st. Another four were reported on Nov. 2, according to DEEP’s wildfire reporting system.