Crews continue battling Hawthorne Fire, other fires amid dry weather conditions

As the Hawthorne Fire continues to burn into its twelfth day, crews remain on scene in Berlin using new equipment to help them battle the flames.

This comes as the state sees more fires spark up due to the current dry weather.

As crews from all over the state and the country continue to fight the Hawthorne Fire in Berlin, officials say they’re holding steady with limited fire growth.

The fire is now burning at 127 acres. Firefighters are focusing on tackling hot spots in the southeast part of Lamentation Mountain. They’re using drones with infrared cameras to help.

“If we do it in the morning and in the evening before sunrise and after sunset, we get a better interpretation of what the actual fire or the spot fires are on the area,” Bill Perkins with the Connecticut Incident Management Team said.

They say this technology has already helped crews on the ground.

“Those red dots that we see on that camera become less and less and for us, that’s a good thing,” Perkins said.

The dry weather across the state has sparked other brush fires, including one in Roxbury which caused roads to be shut down in the area.

In Bristol, smoke could be seen in town as firefighters battled a fire that sparked up again in the area of Mountain Road.

Those are some of the fires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) said it’s monitoring.

“That’s a thing for our firefighters to be aware for rapid spread rates of fire and extreme fire behavior,” Rich Schenk, fire control officer for DEEP, said.

With a red flag warning in effect Friday, state officials say conditions were ripe for fires to start.

“Fire growth and the probability of something igniting is at an extreme level so that’s why we are super concerned,” Josh Cingranelli with the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security said.

They’re urging people across the state to take precautions such as clearing out leaf piles.

“Use a leaf blower. Get those leaves away from your house in case something does ignite. Then it’s not right up against your house,” Cingranelli said.

Fire officials are urging people to follow the burn bans to keep other fires from potentially happening.