Deadly Brush Fire Burns in Connecticut Mountains

(TNS) — A massive brush fire in Berlin and Meriden this week has left a Wethersfield firefighter dead following a rollover crash involving a utility vehicle.

The Connecticut National Guard is using helicopters with buckets filled from nearby Silver Lake to help put out the fire from above.

The incident comes as much of Connecticut is facing abnormally dry conditions caused by little rain so far this month. State officials warned that parts of Connecticut were under “extreme” risk of fire risk again on Thursday.

Meriden police on Tuesday identified the Wethersfield firefighter killed as Robert Sharkevich Sr., a veteran of the Hartford Fire Department.

Here’s what we know and don’t know about the brush fire:

Wethersfield firefighter’s cause of death

A spokeswoman for the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Robert Sharkevich’s cause of death was an impact injury of the head and neck. The manner of death was an accident, the spokeswoman said.

Estimated size of the fire has varied

The estimated size of the fire has grown and shrunk since firefighters have been battling it. Berlin Fire Lt. John Massirio said the fire spanned 107 acres at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

He said the reported size of the fire has varied as officials are using a variety of tools, including drones, aerial mapping and crews on the ground to form estimates.

The change in estimates “doesn’t necessarily correlate to fire growth,” Massirio said. “The fire growth has been pretty minimal.”

In an update around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, Berlin fire officials said “favorable conditions” allowed them to survey the fire.

“Estimates on size have been reduced to 65 to 70 acres,” the agency said. State officials Wednesday morning had put the size of the fire at 125 acres or more.

Michael Kronick, the fire control officer in the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said Wednesday afternoon that the current estimate that the fire covered 87 acres was arrived at by use of GPS, revising earlier estimates as high as 125 acres developed through other methods.

Federal assistance has been requested

William Turner, the state emergency management director, said there has been a verbal request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant to the Federal Emergency Management Agency Region One. The grant will help manage costs associated with the fire if approved.

“There’s no guarantee that we’ll get that, but we’re gonna make every effort to get that federal dollar assistance in, as this is becoming a very expensive operation, and we know that that is going to continue for some days,” Turner said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

National Guard sent helicopters to help fight fire

Aerial firefighting units were used to battle the fire beginning Wednesday, and continued Thursday morning.

The Connecticut National Guard sent two helicopters — a UH-60 Blackhawk and a CH-47 Chinook — to fight the fire. The Blackhawk was equipped with a 660-gallon Bambi water bucket, while the Chinook had a 2,000-gallon Bambi water bucket, according to National Guard spokesperson Maj. Michael J. Wilcoxson.

A Blackhawk helicopter with a bucket suspended below it was seen flying at the scene of the fire Thursday morning. Berlin fire officials confirmed “air drops” were planned to resume around 9 a.m. Thursday.

Crews have dropped more than 51,000 gallons of water over the area, Wilcoxson said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

The National Guard is expected to continue to assist in managing the fire until Friday, unless another fire elsewhere in the state requires immediate attention, Massirio said in a news conference Wednesday evening.

The dual-rotor Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter capable of carrying heavy loads. The Connecticut National Guard’s Chinooks also recently were used in North Carolina to help in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Michael Kronick, the fire control officer in the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said Wednesday afternoon that the aerial water drops were intended to cool the fire to the point that firefighters could get on the ground and dig out hot spots to truly contain the blaze.

“I am pretty confident we will be able to keep it away from homes,” he said.

Firefighter dies in crash battling brush fire

Lamont on Wednesday ordered flags lowered to half-staff for the Wethersfield firefighter who died responding to the brush fire.

“I am very heartbroken to learn the news of the tragic loss of firefighter Sharkevich, who died while bravely and courageously responding to the brush fire at Lamentation Mountain in Berlin,” Lamont said in a statement. “His selfless dedication to public service and the safety of his community and the surrounding towns is nothing less than heroic.”

Officials reported the fire Monday, which was visible that night as a glowing mass on the mountain’s hillside.

Visitation for Sharkevich will take place from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home, 34 Beaver Road in Wethersfield, the funeral home posted on its website.

A funeral service is scheduled to take place the next day, Monday, Oct. 28, starting at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Joseph at 140 Farmington Ave. in Hartford.

Fire occurred during dry, high-risk weather

Crews have been fighting the fire amid a stretch of dry, sunny weather with gusty winds that have elevated the risk of wildland fire around the state.

Thursday brought some brief light rain to Connecticut, but the National Weather Service warned that dry conditions combined with winds gusting up to about 25 mph still placed the state at risk for brush fires. The agency issued a special weather statement warning of the heightened risk. Separately, the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection also warned that several counties, including Hartford, are at “extreme” risk of brush fire on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the entire state, warning that a combination of winds gusting up to 25 mph and dry conditions could allow for “rapid fire spread if ignition occurs.”

Lamentation Mountain State Park

The fire is impacting 47-acre Lamentation Mountain State Park. There, families have enjoyed hiking trails and scenic vistas, as well as free parking, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

What is a utility vehicle or UTV?

Meriden police said the crash that killed the Wethersfield firefighter involved a “utility vehicle,” or UTV.

Sometimes referred to a “side-by-sides,” the term refers to small motor vehicles that resemble golf carts or small pickup trucks. Unlike four-wheelers, generally referred to as ATVs, UTVs may be enclosed or semi-enclosed for the driver, offering a bit more protection in the event of a rollover. They lack the safety features of a car, however, and often but not exclusively are used off-road.

Besides their use in brush fires and off-road rescues, police and other public agencies sometimes use the vehicles during events to set up parking cones or traffic signs and barriers.

Berlin was one of many brush fires in CT this week

Berlin may be the biggest but it is just one of many brush fires that have ignited around the state in the last week, including at an East Granby park Wednesday evening.

Berlin fire officials said that in addition to the Lamentation fire, “additional forest and brush fires have been occurring throughout the town.” The last fire resulted in about an acre of burned land, the fire department said.

“Town of Berlin and City of Meriden resources were immediately dispatched to the area and the fire was able to be put under control with no issues,” fire officials said.

In East Granby, a fire started at Cowles Park on South Main Street in town around 5:08 p.m., East Granby Fire Chief Kerry Flaherty said Wednesday.

Flaherty said the fire was contained by the 15 responding firefighters, adding that the crews left the site by approximately 6:45 p.m. Flaherty said firefighters would return early Thursday to confirm it was completely extinguished.

Firefighters also managed another brush fire near Hubbard Park in nearby Meriden that “could have gone out of control pretty quickly,” Massirio said, though it was extinguished.

Investigators said they have not determined what caused the fire to start.

“These areas are well traveled by hikers, UTVs, quads,” Massirio said. “These things all create sparks, heat, and any of this can cause a forest fire. So its just really important to use caution if you’re gonna be in the woods.”

How the fire started

Officials have not said how the fire may have started. Officials said Tuesday they haven’t been able to access the area where the fire started to assess what happened. Massirio said Thursday afternoon that he expected officials to be able to share the cause of the fire by the end of the day or Friday morning.

How the other firefighters were injured

Meriden police said the crash that killed Sharkevich involved a total of four firefighters. The three others involved were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said. However, their names were not released and it was unclear how they were injured in the rollover.

An official said Wednesday the firefighters suffered minor injuries, including scrapes, bumps and bruises.

How much damage the fire caused

The brush fire has stretched to more than 100 acres in Berlin and Meriden, and taken the life of a firefighter. However, since the blaze is still burning, details regarding its total impacts and damages have yet to be determined.

William Turner, the state emergency management director, said Wednesday that officials are continuing to monitor any impacts if the fire were to grow.

How long will it take to contain the fire

Several agencies are battling the blaze, but it is unclear how long it will take for the fire to be under control.

On Thursday afternoon, Massirio said he expected crews to have a “good hold on” the fire by the end of the weekend given current progress.

“That’s not to say that crews won’t be out here for an extended period past that,” he said. “There’s a lot of area up there to cover, and its not easy to get to some of these locations. So, that could just kind of hamper the amount of time it takes to — to get those teams in there to finish up.”

In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Kronick said the earliest the fire could be 100 percent contained, without wind but with the current dry conditions, would be Sunday or Monday.

Crews battled the fire through the night into Wednesday and were able to contain it into a “box,” Kronick said. The fire’s spread mainly was to the north and south along ridge lines behind Sea Green Drive and in the south into Meriden, officials said. Officials said there had been no reported damage to homes.

“We are working to secure all the edges,” said Kronick, a former Westport fire chief, on Wednesday. “With today’s weather forecast, we will be tested on those lines, and if the lines hold, we will be able to make great progress on this.”

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