Andover Fire Department Battles Woods Fire at Proctor

All-night blaze burns over two acres

May 25, 2015 • Saved under News

Sunday night, May 24. Because of the persistent dryness this spring, the woods floor itself burned, and burned deeply. Photo: Tim Eltzroth

Monday morning, May 25. Because the fire burned so deeply, fire crews spent hours soaking the woods floor. The two-and-a-half burned acres will have to be monitored for days to be sure the fire doesn't re-ignite. Photo: Scott Davis

Monday morning, May 25. Photo: Jake Johnson

By Charlie Darling, Beacon staff

At 7:27 PM on Sunday, May 24, the “tone” went out to Andover firefighters: investigate the thick column of smoke rising from a hill behind Proctor Academy. “Based on the thick smoke, it looked like a structure fire,” said Andover Fire Chief Rene Lefebvre.

With night falling fast, the fire fighters found a small lean-to ablaze about half a mile up the trail from the Proctor Field House. The fire had spread to the woods, ultimately involving about two and a half acres. Worse, because of the persistent dryness this spring, the fire was burning deep into the ground – up to 10″ deep in many places.

It was a long night, with the Andover team joined by fire departments from Franklin, Danbury, Wilmot, Salisbury, Tilton/Northfield, and Hill by the time the fire was contained and extinguished. There was also equipment and hose provided by the state Division of Forests and Lands. And Dave Pilla, Proctor’s Woodlands Manager, was a valuable asset, guiding the fire fighters through the woods he knows so well and, with a sawyer crew, felling burning trees into the fire to keep them from falling outward and spreading the blaze.

Getting back and forth to the fire scene was a big problem, as the first-quarter moon provided little illumination and soon set. But with a quick text message, dozens of glow-sticks were located on the Proctor campus and pressed into service as a trail of glowing blazes leading fire fighters to and from the fire scene. “These should be part of our standard equipment for nighttime fires,” said John Kinney, chief of Andover’s Emergency Medical Service and source of the inspiration for lighting the trail.

It was a bad night for a fire, as there were a number of other structure fires and woods fires within our mutual aid area that tied up resources that otherwise might have been thrown at the Andover fire. But by mid-day on Monday, Memorial Day, the fire was out and the long monitoring operation was beginning. “Because of the dryness, this fire burned so deep that we’ll be monitoring the site for days,” said Rene. Dave Pilla and his Proctor woods crew will play a key role in that monitoring.