Crews continue to fight Great Barrington brush fire

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. (NEWS10) -- Chopper blades spun high over the Berkshire Mountains on Tuesday, dousing the Butternut Fire with whatever water they could. The helicopters play a crucial role as crews like Egremont Fire Rescue keep a safe distance from the flames.

The brush fire is burning near Camp Eisner on Brookside Road in Great Barrington. The Butternut Fire has not been contained after it ignited on Monday night. Officials said in a press conference on Wednesday that no one is at risk.

Locals Nicole and Rebecca had their eyes on the situation since early Tuesday morning. "The sky was lit up and it progressed from there and it just got bigger and bigger and bigger and we've been watching it all day," said Nicole. 

"The six-year average is about 20 wildfires in the month of November and we just went over 400. Big acreages large fires and it's all the result of drought-driven indices across the state” said Chief Fire Warden Dave Celino from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

The town of Great Barrington has declared a state of emergency, though they say there is no threat to the public as properties do not lie in the wildfire areas. Nicole and Rebecca say this is unprecedented for the area. 

“Day after day our local fire departments are responding to illegal burns in the backyards of residences or campfires,” Celino added.

“We can safely assume that because there's been no lightning and there's no electric utility poles that it was most probably man caused" said Ryan Brown, a fire press information officer.

The DCR added that firefighters are relying on a pond as a water source to douse the fire. They say the pond’s water levels are holding up for now but should it get too low, choppers will have to fly further out for an alternate water source.

With predictions of lower temperatures overnight for Tuesday, residents to the south and west of the fire may smell smoke as the cold temperature will cause smoke to be lower to the ground. Celino and Brown are urging residents to abide by the state burn ban and refrain from lighting any fires.