Amid brush fires that have impacted the state and red flag warnings that have been issued in the region, city Fire Chief Robert M. O’Brien urged residents this week to adhere to fire safety requirements during an unseasonably dry autumn.
As WHAV reported in October, three back-to-back fires within two and a half hours kept city firefighters busy—fires that were later said to have been preventable. During a presentation to city councilors, O’Brien referenced the three Oct. 27 fires, as well as a Nov. 9 fire, all caused by “careless disposal of smoking materials” and illegal burning.
“We can avoid these fires, folks. It’s plain and simple,” he said, referencing an Oct. 27 fire.
He later added, “It’s a very typical thing, someone goes outside to have a cigarette. They flip the cigarette. It blows back with the wind and it catches their porch or their leaves or the shrubbery or the mulch beside it. They go back in and come to find a few hours later their house is burning down and they’re inside it, it’s common.”
He reminded residents the city does not permit outdoor burning in any circumstance, with the exception of the city’s authorized burn season early in the year.
“You have to call daily to make sure conditions we have no do not exist and they need to get authorization to even burn with a permit. Amazingly, we still get calls whether or not they can burn even in the middle of all this,” he said. “That includes, very important, we do not allow fire pits or chimineas. We do not allow them. They’re not allowed. I don’t know how many times I can say this, you cannot burn in the City of Haverhill under these conditions.”
O’Brien provided councilors drone footage of the 43 Lake St. fire, which burned up to 15 acres of woods along with a residential property. That fire, O’Brien said, was caused by one cigarette.
“I just don’t know how I can drill that home any more serious than that,” he said.
Councilors praised O’Brien, with Councilor John A. Michitson referencing the department’s “full complement” of firefighters, which have seen improved response times amid additional staff as WHAV reported in October.
Councilor Ralph T. Basiliere stressed to the public, “stop playing Russian Roulette with our neighborhood.”
“It would take to me, it seems, with the wind that we’re having about 15 minutes to lose every house on John Street, I’m not down for that. Please, people, heed these warnings,” he said.
Essex County, for which a critical drought was declared by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs on Oct. 15, is behind on its typical rainfall totals of approximately three to four inches over the last 30 days, according to data from the National Weather Service. Over the last 90 days, the county is behind by eight to 10 inches.
Approximately a half an inch to one inch of rain is forecast for Friday by the National Weather Service, which O’Brien believes will not alleviate conditions.
“Trust me, it’s not going to the job. These fires are burning deep underground right now,” O’Brien told councilors. As of Nov. 18, 403 fires have burned 1,036 acres across the state this month, with 17 fires in 24 hours.
Haverhill has 14 brush fires thus far this season, with the department participation in 12 mutual aid responses so far across the state, according to O’Brien.
“We always will respond no matter what the situation is,” he said.
In other Fire Department news, the department received a $10,000 donation from the Wilber M. Comeau Post 4 American Legion to be used for the department’s public education programming.
Massachusetts drought map.