MIDDLETON, Mass. — Tom Schank woke up in the middle of the night Tuesday and his entire house was filled with smoke. He didn’t panic -- he was sort of expecting it.
“I’m not surprised,” he said. “Everything’s so dry. We could see some of the fires coming up through the window, especially from the back of my property.”
Schank built his house on eight acres more than twenty years ago. At the time, he wasn’t planning on ways to deal with a wildfire lapping at his property -- because the notion was somewhat absurd. Wildfires, he thought, happened elsewhere.
“I’ve seen a lot of burns in Idaho and Montana which are naturally occurring from lightning and they usually self-contain,” he said. “Here, you can’t take the chance it’s going to come into one of the homes.”
As of Wednesday morning, that had not happened. The state Department of Fire Services told Boston 25 News that the Middleton ‘Pond Fire’ was 50% contained, with 166 acres still burning. In Salem, two fires are also 50% contained, with one still covering 133 acres.
But contained is a relative term when it comes to wildfires -- and it’s not a huge source of comfort knowing how quickly flames react to the weather. While it rained a bit Tuesday night, the precipitation was not nearly enough to quench the parched underbrush. With the sun emerging mid-day, crews fully expected the sparse droplets to evaporate, giving the flames another opportunity to rise.
And there’s still plenty of fuel.
“I just know out back right now there’s a big cedar swamp,” Schank said. “Basically pine needles and dry timber in there. So that’s going to take a while to get out.”
In fact, a fire chief from Devens told Boston 25 News the amount of dry debris extends deeply into the forest floor. And while they can put flames out, firefighters can’t extinguish the smoldering roots wildfires leave behind -- the roots to the next round of fire.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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