Williamstown Wildfire: Acreage Estimates Range From 157 to 198, and Officials Disagree on Whether Homes Are at Risk

A wildfire that started Sunday in the Berlin State Forest in New York crossed into Williamstown on Monday, and Gov. Maura Healey activated the Massachusetts National Guard to drop water on it from aircraft, according to WCVB, Western Mass News and the Berkshire Eagle. Williamstown Fire Chief Jeffrey Dias said Monday night that crews expected to work overnight, do water drops Tuesday and have full containment by Tuesday evening.

Public figures for the fire's size differ by source. State officials in Massachusetts put it at an estimated 157 acres, according to WCVB and Western Mass News. Dias told the Eagle it had burned about 160 acres as of 6:50 p.m. Monday. New York State and Rensselaer County officials told WAMC it had reached roughly 198 acres Monday evening and was 50 percent contained. The fire was discovered by residents in the Town of Berlin on Sunday morning, when it covered about 1.5 acres, WAMC reported; the Eagle, citing NewsChannel 13, said it was about 15 acres by 10 p.m. Sunday and zero percent contained at that time.

The reports also differ on the threat. Healey said in a statement quoted by WCVB: "As this fire spreads toward homes, businesses and communities in Western Massachusetts, we're activating the National Guard to provide critical support from the air and to reach areas that firefighters can't safely access on the ground." Dias told the Eagle that the fire was burning in a wooded area, that "no structures currently" were threatened and that residents were not in immediate danger. WAMC quoted officials saying smoke was minimal and no homes were at risk. The Eagle reported that Massachusetts crews were pulled off the fire Sunday night because the area was not under imminent threat and returned at daylight.

The terrain is the main obstacle. New York Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Ranger Lt. Eric Stratton said the biggest challenges were "the extremely difficult terrain and the difficult access into the fire." To reach the fire, WAMC reported, crews travel a mile and a half down a trail and hike another mile into the woods. Dias described the area as "very steep and rugged terrain" and "very inaccessible for firefighting operations," and said the fire "is coming across a mountain." Two New York State helicopters have dropped water, according to WAMC. On the Massachusetts side, Western Mass News reported the response includes a rehab unit, an incident support unit and a drone team, and the Department of Fire Services is sending personnel and specialized apparatus. Fire departments from Vermont are also helping, and the Public Safety, Fire Services and Conservation and Recreation agencies have been monitoring.

Nobody has given a cause. Dias told the Eagle he did not know what started the fire. Stratton told WAMC that fires in the area are "fairly common" this time of year. "We haven't had any rain lately, so with the leaf fall that we've had right now, it's just burning in leaf litter," he said. A Lebanon Valley, N.Y., fire association cited "high pressure air, dry leaves, and lack of precipitation" in a statement. Officials asked the public to avoid the Taconic Crest Trail south of State Highway 2 and Massachusetts residents and visitors to give responders room.

That dry spell is newer than the state's latest drought declaration. On Oct. 9, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper declared drought levels after a wet September. The release lists Level 2, significant drought, in the Northeast and Cape Cod regions and Nantucket County, and Level 1, mild drought, in the Southeast Region, and says the Connecticut River Valley Region improved to normal conditions. It does not list the Western Region, and nothing in it puts western Massachusetts in drought. It said September rainfall of 5 to 12 inches, lowest in the northeast and west, had "helped keep fire danger levels down."

The state's drought status page says the Oct. 9 levels remain in effect until the next declaration and still shows that date as current. The Drought Management Task Force's next scheduled meeting is Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. The Eagle's weather coverage this week, in a headline, said no rain was in sight for at least 10 days. The drought map is built from rainfall and groundwater, as the release describes, and does not by itself measure how dry fallen leaves are, so the Oct. 9 declaration neither predicted nor ruled out a fire in the Berkshires.

The reports cited here do not report any injuries or evacuations. Residents have been told to check the Williamstown Fire Department's Facebook page for updates, the Eagle reported.