Firefighters save three homes from encroaching brush fire in Northfield

A fire truck races up a closed South Mountain Road in Northfield to join the crews battling a brush fire on Friday afternoon.

A fire truck races up a closed South Mountain Road in Northfield to join the crews battling a brush fire on Friday afternoon. STAFF PHOTO/MADISON SCHOFIELD

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

Staff Writer

Published: 11-08-2024 6:07 PM

NORTHFIELD — Firefighters from across Franklin County rushed to South Mountain Road on Friday to battle a brush fire that was sparked by downed power lines and threatened nearby homes.

According to the Friends of Northfield Police Department’s Facebook page, wires knocked down by a tree ignited brush near 630 South Mountain Road just before 1 p.m. Northfield Fire crews were quickly deployed to the area to get the fire under control before strong winds carried it closer to nearby homes, with first responders upgrading the fire to a third alarm to draw in more departments.

Northfield Police closed off the road from the intersection with Old Wendell Road to the intersection with Gulf Road as additional crews from Erving, Gill, Montague, Warwick, Deerfield and Winchester, New Hampshire, arrived. The Turners Falls Fire Department provided station coverage in Northfield. A crew from Eversource also responded.

An update from Northfield Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III posted on the Friends of Northfield Police Department’s Facebook page shortly after 4 p.m. reported that the fire burned between 6 and 8 acres of brush, but crews were able to get it under control and extinguished before it spread to the three nearby homes.

The post also noted that the road would be closed for the next 24 hours.

Amid the unseasonably warm and dry climate conditions that have prompted local fire departments to issue outdoor burning bans, the Northfield brush fire was not the only blaze that firefighters responded to on Friday. Another brush fire broke out near Clubhouse Pond in neighboring Warwick.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.

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