Complex of fires burns more than 100 acres around Crawford Notch State Park
Officials say fires about 25% contained
Officials say fires about 25% contained
Officials say fires about 25% contained
Brush fire danger was high for much of New Hampshire on Monday, including the area around Crawford Notch State Park, where three fires have formed a fire complex now named the Bemis Fire.
Officials said the fires were just 25% contained by Monday evening. The fire known as the Alpha fire ran up the canopy at Crawford Notch State Park in a process called torching. That fire makes up the largest part of the complex, at 58 acres.
The Bravo fire has burned 16 acres, while the Charlie fire affects about 35 acres, officials said. Fire officials said the three fires started at around the same time and make up about 106 acres total.
"There was potential for much more fire growth had that rain not come in the first day," said Adrian Reyes, of the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands.
Reyes said the goal is to put out the remaining fires before conditions get very dry again. The location of the fires doesn't make fighting them easy.
"That really steep terrain makes it really hard to get personnel there and to get water there, so most of the work we're having to do is without any water, just using hand tools, shovels, those types of things to dig a fire line," Reyes said.
Another hazard is standing dead trees that can fuel the fires. Firefighters are using chainsaws to take them down.
Officials said they don't know what sparked the fires.