The dry, windy and warm temperatures are increasing the risk for brush fires, and several have already sparked across Massachusetts this week.
In Lynn Woods Reservation, the concern is similar to elsewhere – warmer than normal weather, dry leaves that have been falling, thick brush already on the ground and the wind and lack of rain.
It's the perfect recipe for a forest fire. And that’s exactly what happened off Paxton Road in Holden on Wednesday.
White smoke could be seen coming from under several trees. Spencer and Townsend fire departments were called in to help fight that fire.
And in Lynn, fire crews and residents are on high alert because of these conditions.
Lynn has 2,200 acres of forestry land – the bulk of which is in Lynn Woods Reservation. And over the past two years, firefighters say more than 400 acres have burned in brush fires, so they’re being extra cautious with the elevated fire risk this week.
“With how dry it has been, the current foliage that’s falling and everything, it’s something that we’re watching out for," Lynn Fire Lt. Dennis Ring said. "We have people who are regularly in the woods hiking, biking, so that early detection and letting us know there’s a fire is huge.”
With no measurable rain in the forecast and a mix of seasonable weather and warmer than normal temperatures, these concerns will likely remain through the end of the month.
