Gloucester firefighters use helicopters to drop water on site of brush fire

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The Gloucester Fire Department returned to the site of a brush fire earlier this week – this time by air.

Firefighters used helicopters to drop water on the Poles Hill area, where about 9 acres were burned by a brush fire on Monday.

There were no flare ups, but the department said it is trying to keep the area wet to prevent further fires.

Monday’s brush fire drew a massive response from nearby fire departments as crews worked to get it under control.

Gloucester Fire Chief Eric Smith said firefighters were challenged by the remote location of the blaze, which made it difficult to get water to the fire. And the dry, windy conditions only made matters worse.

“The fire gets into the ground, literally with the root bases being dried out and the peat and all the granite that we have,” Smith told Boston 25. “Fire literally gets underground and can pop up where you don’t expect it.”

Smith said he believes a person caused the fire.

“There’s no ignition sources up in this area. There’s no utilities, there’s nothing, so the cause of this fire is people,” said Chief Smith.

Fire crews continue to work to make sure the fire doesn’t flare up again with the dry weather.

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