Wildfire Plan Aims to Increase Awareness

A recently released article about the Dukes County Wildfire Protection Plan looks to help people become more familiar with the potential for wildfires on-Island, and take appropriate measures to mitigate their impact.

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Extensive Forest Fire
Vineyard Gazette

The forest fire which races across the large section of the island known as “The Plains” lasted two days and burned through to West Tisbury. More than 200 men had a hard fight before the flames were subdued.

Two and a half hours from the start the fire reached Pine farm, owned by Ariel B. Scott, where the flames claimed a barn, destroyed a corn crib, hen houses and a building in which were two incubators, wagon and tools and a flock of hens.

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Forest Fire
Vineyard Gazette

Last Sunday, at about ten o’clock, with a high wind blowing from the westward, afterwards more southerly, a fire started in Quampacha Bottom, on Dr. Fisher’s Road, so called, and about one mile in from the highway leading to West Tisbury, and soon gathering headway begun a career of galloping destruction through the Bottom lands for some three miles, coming out on the Vineyard Haven road at various points between the Jeremiah Weeks farm, now owned by David S. Beetle, and a point to the north of Wilbur’s corner.

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The Vineyard Forest Reserve
Vineyard Gazette
With the latest acquisition of land by the state, the order of tak­ing of which by the Department of Conservation was published in last week’s paper, the forest reserve on Martha’s Vineyard comprises about 5000 acres. Encircling the heath hen reservation, which consists of 640 acres, this tract extends over the eastern plain lands, the least valuable of any land on the Island.
 
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Friday's Fierce Fire
Vineyard Gazette

Friday, May 12th, was a day of excitement over the eastern half of Martha's Vineyard when men from the towns of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and West Tisbury, and the country roundabout, in all to the number of several hundred persons, labored from 7 a. m. until nightfall, handicapped by a heavy wind, at times approaching a gale, in their efforts to control one of the most extensive woods and brush fires which has occurred on the island in years, if ever before. The property loss runs into the thousands.

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Elevated Fire Risk Today

The combination of dry air and gusty winds will enhance the risk for fires across the state, including on the Vineyard, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency has announced.

The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement warning of the increased threat.

“Local Fire Weather officials have advised that fine fuels, grasses and leaf litter, will be very receptive for ignition. In fact any fire across unshaded fine fuels can rapidly spread in these gusty conditions,” the statement said.

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Controlled Burns Wins Support
Mark Alan Lovewell

Edgartown selectmen this week affirmed the use of fire as a land
management tool as long as members of The Nature Conservancy continue to
work closely with the town's fire chief.

Joel R. Carlson, a fire manager for The Nature Conservancy, came
before the selectmen to answer concerns about the risk of setting fires
in wooded areas. The meeting was attended by representatives of the town
conservation commission and the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest.

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State Forest Fire Plans Raise Threat of Lawsuit To Block Clearing Work
Joshua Sabatini

The state's fire control plans for the 5,200-acre Manuel F.
Corellus State Forest have come under attack by the scientific community
and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a
watchdog organization. The advocacy group threatens possible legal
action to block state forest teams from clearing hundreds of acres of
woodland along strategic fire lines.

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New Plan Cuts Wildfire Threat
Joshua Sabatini

The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Forests and Parks won permission Tuesday to move forward with new efforts to manage the 5,200-acre Manuel F. Correllus State Forest.

The high risk of forest fires poses a danger for residents abutting the state property. In June, Bob Durand, secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, arrived on the Vineyard with news of an initiative to address that danger.

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Risk of Forest Fire High Due to Summer Drought; Public Caution Is Urged
Mark Alan Lovewell

Against a backdrop of prolonged summer drought, the threat of wildfire in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest is now high, and Island fire chiefs this week issued grave words of caution to the public.

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