BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Long-awaited snow on the ground cools down an abnormally smokey season in the green mountains.
The drop in temperature typically means a drop in fire risk. But this fall, foliage wasn’t the only thing ablaze.
On the morning of October 27th, Barnard Fire Warden Scott Mills awoke to smoke.
“The morning of the fire, I went up Route 12, and the whole ridge was on fire. I said, ‘Oh my,’” said Mills.
It’s the kind of fire you spend your career preparing for.
Around 70 acres of remote land on Morgan Hill Road was on fire from improper wood stove ash disposal.
It took several local and state departments two weeks to put out.
“I’ve been on the department for 47 years. You might have had 10, 20 acres but nothing of this magnitude,” said Mills.
A fire like that is rare during a Vermont fall.
State experts say the spring, with melting snow and warming temperatures, typically triggers the most fires.
“We were always, you know, on pins and needles in the spring, and we’re alert, of course, in the fall. But we weren’t expecting to have this, you know, rash of wildfire,” said Oliver Pierson of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Rec.
So far this year, 82 wildfires – all human-caused – burned 159 acres in the state.
It’s the most fire damage since 2016, and over half of it happened in October and November alone.
Experts say little rain, dry foliage, and wind were a recipe for disaster.
“It was very far from typical, but I think it’s sort of the new normal,” said Pierson.
Preparing for more falls like this, the state is working to secure several hundred thousand dollars to buy a wildland fire engine.
It’s a rogue pickup truck that can navigate rural and mountainous terrain better than standard fire trucks.
Mills is happy to see state funds going to fire prevention and response.
“I think this has opened more people’s eyes for where the funding might need to go,” he said.
The state aims to buy the wildland fire engine in the upcoming fiscal year. They hope it boosts fast fire response and limits reliance on fire departments in surrounding communities and states.