Chiefs agree to ban brush burning; Risk of wildfire is high in dry weather.

Byline: Kim Ring; Mike Elfland

Fire chiefs from throughout the region, some of whom spent much of the weekend putting out wildfires, heeded the state's advice and prohibited the burning of brush yesterday.

For many homeowners, the final weekends of April are dominated by raking fallen branches and other yard debris into open fires - a practice allowed in most communities through May 1.

But with the run of dry weather, the likelihood of fires getting out of control has increased markedly.

Yesterday morning, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation asked local fire chiefs - who determine whether open burning is allowed in their jurisdiction - to put a stop to the practice, at least for a day.

In Massachusetts on Saturday, there were reports of 189 wildfires over 375 acres, according to the state. Many of those fires were permitted fires that got out of control; some were of unknown origin. Yesterday the number of fires dropped to 87 but those fires scorched 475 acres, Department of Conservation and Recreation spokesman Wendy Fox said.

The largest fire, a 370-acre blaze in Lanesboro, in the Berkshires, was counted both days because firefighters spent more than 24 hours trying to extinguish it.

Other firefighters battled smaller fires sparked by residents burning yard waste. A fire burned 20 acres in Hopkinton, she said.

With a lack of rain recently, the fire danger is increased. The breeze has not only helped create dry conditions, it has also fanned the flames of small fires causing big problems.

"Sometimes the wind picks up and they get away from them," said Winchendon Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Connor, whose department Saturday battled two allowed fires that got out of control.

In Thompson, firefighters spent about five hours chasing flames over close to 40 acres, a dispatcher said last night.

Smoke from the blaze was noticed by a fire spotter in the Charlton fire tower about 3 p.m. By about 8 p.m., the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection was calling the fire under control and taking over the firefighting efforts.

Firefighters from Dudley, Webster and Douglas in Massachusetts joined Connecticut firefighters from Thompson, Putnam and East Putnam. A crew from Harrisville, R.I., also assisted.

Elsewhere in Central Massachusetts Saturday, there were brush fires in Rutland, Templeton, Millbury, Upton, Townsend and Winchendon. Yesterday, those communities followed the state's recommendation, banning open burning.

Millbury initially allowed burning yesterday, not learning of the state's recommendation until midmorning. By then, some homeowners had started to burn brush. In one case, a fire got out of control and firefighters were summoned.

"He was doing everything right, but a gust of wind came along and it jumped over the bank," Millbury Fire Chief Matthew R. Belsito said.

The homeowner, on Dolan Road, seemed to do everything correctly, burning in a pit and having a garden hose nearby, said the chief. Still, the fire got away from him, the chief said.

Chief Belsito reversed his earlier ruling and did not allow brush burning.

In Rutland, a brush fire Saturday appears to have led to a fire in an abandoned house on Turkey Hill Road. Embers from the brush fire likely made their way into the house, Rutland Fire Chief Thomas P. Ruchala said.

The chief said yesterday the cause of the initial fire remains under investigation; it was

not because an allowed fire got out of control, he added.

Meanwhile, the chief had to tell Rutland homeowners they can't participate in the common practice of burning brush.

"I hate to cut permits off, because out there in the country they like burning up the old brush and stuff that comes down with the storms," he said.

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: A representative of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection talks to firefighters near the fire line of a large brush fire near Thompson Speedway yesterday.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/CHRISTINE PETERSON