North Branford Brush Fire Continues to Burn

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but fire officials are not ruling out self-combustion from sun and heat.

The huge 70-foot-tall brush in North Branford continues to burn on Wednesday morning, hours after it started burning on Tuesday afternoon.

"You've got dried leaves that were obviously a prime candidate for chaos,” Gerry Casey, a nearby resident, said. "It’s such a deep pile of smoldering ashes at this point, if it’s left unattended you'll have issues."

Firefighters are still at the scene, monitoring the brush fire that began on Tuesday afternoon, on Warner Road, near the Borrelli Farm.

"Were concerned about the environmental effects. The water runoff isn't going anywhere, the smoke changed direction today, it’s getting more towards the center of North Branford," said Chief William Seward of the North Branford Fire Department.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but fire officials are not ruling out self-combustion from sun and heat.

"It’s a strong possibility,” said Chief Seward.

Meanwhile, thick white smoke continues to billow from the brush. It’s visible from up to one mile away and from Gerry Casey's home, one town over.

"I couldn't sleep last night, I've been up since like 2 in the morning and there were cars coming and going, just keeping a finger on it, keeping an eye on it, making sure that it didn't get any worse," said Casey.

Fire officials don't expect the brush fire to advance, but they admit the surrounding elements are not helping the situation.

"Yesterday it did kick up, so it provided additional embers, spot fires around the area. Today we’re hoping to get rain, so it'll help us out," Chief Seward said.

A large sprinkler system is now set up to help keep the smoldering heap watered.

Still, firefighters said it'll be a few days before the huge brush fire eventually burns itself out.
 

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