Brush fires ignite at Rocky Neck State Park

Despite some rain showers, brush fires continue to be a risk around Connecticut.

Rocky Neck State Park has been the site of a few of the latest. It's the same park that ignited last fall.

Just across from the 4 Mile River boat launch, the hillside is well charred from some prescribed burns at the park to help slow the fires spread.

“Get some of the nice weather and the dog likes the water, its kind of quiet here,” Rick Eddy, who was visiting the park with his dog, said.

The state park reopened to the public Tuesday after being closed so firefighters and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) could respond to reports of brush fires.

“I didn’t smell any smoke and I wasn’t even aware there were any brush fires in the area,” Eddy said.

But smoke was there. Multiple fire departments in the area posting to Facebook warning of smoke hanging in the air as they worked to contain the spread.

“We left and had dinner and got a thing on my phone that said Rocky Neck was on fire,” Jane Depasque, of Old Saybrook, said.

She said she was walking around Rocky Neck Sunday morning before the brush fire caught.

According to DEEP, the brush fire that ignited Easter Sunday was coming under control when a report of a second brush fire came in, then a third. In total, the estimated burned area is about 65 acres.

“We are in brush fire season,” Rich Schenk, a state fire control officer with DEEP, said.

He noted these fires are considered contained but they are monitoring them closely and will continue to do so until the area gets significant rainfall.

Part of the operation involved back burning areas close to Route 156 to help contain the fire spread. Driving along the road near the park, you’ll spot areas of charred leaf litter.

“It’s much easier if we have to work controlled edges, it’s much easier to do it from a road edge surface of a flat level ground,” Schenk said.

DEEP is warning that any significant source of heat could ignite a brush fire and they're asking people to exercise caution.

They say waking up Tuesday to wet ground doesn’t mean it's safe to burn. With no leaf canopy in the trees overhead, the sun will dry the leaves on the ground quickly.

“That sun dries those leaves out within an hour,” Schenk said.

But DEEP’s message of safety is spreading. Even those unaware of a fire around the corner from their morning walk were echoing the department’s message of safety.

“Not to burn anything open and keep everything under control,” Eddy said.

The cause of the fires is still under investigation.