WOODBURY — Many students at Nonnewaug High School get together to have bonfires over the weekends. Especially with the cooler fall weather in the air, getting together around a fire is a popular idea, but with little rain over the past three months, a burn ban has been placed over Connecticut.
Nonnewaug junior Noah Zupan is a volunteer firefighter in Seymour and the lieutenant of Seymour’s junior corps. Within the past couple of weeks, he has responded to several fire calls for illegal bonfires.
“We responded to two major bonfire calls, and both were very local,” said Zupan. “Farther north in Connecticut, we have had fatalities due to wildfires spreading.”
Although Zupan puts out fires, he loves having bonfires with his friends.
“I am always sure of safety regulations,” said Zupan. “All the towns get together and help each other [by instituting a burn ban].”
Fellow Seymour junior firefighter Sam Smolinsky, a junior at Nonnewaug, says that the ban on outdoor burning has interfered with traditional weekend plans.
“Bonfires are really popular and amusing this time of year,” said Smolinsky. “I [usually] get together at least once a week with my friends and try to have a bonfire.”
Some places have extended their burning ban to outdoor grills, a measure that Zupan thinks is excessive.
“The fire ban is needed for some scenarios, but banning grill fires and cooking fires is kind of outrageous,” Zupan said. “If you’re cooking in a controlled environment, then it should be fine.”
However, there have been fires all over Connecticut this fall, calling for the extreme measure of banning all outdoor fires.
“Just the other day, I was coming home from the soccer state championship,” said Toby Denman, a science teacher at Nonnewaug. “I was driving on [Interstate] 84 in Plainville to get home, and I saw a huge brush fire spreading through the wooden wall barricades.”
The extensive brush fires necessitated the burn ban because fire departments are already straining their resources to put out the existing fires without possible new ones sparking.
“The burn ban is helpful and important because it helps reduce the likelihood of additional fires starting,” said Rick Molleur, a 19-year firefighter in Southington who has served as a fire marshal for the past three years. “It allows the fire crews to focus on putting out numerous brush fires. There has been approximately five times as many brush fires in our state compared to recent years due to the unusual dry conditions.”
Even with colder weather coming in and students still hoping to find ways to be outside when they get together, having fires at this point is still too dangerous.
“These fires start so easily from just a little ember flying through the air, and it could land on a dry leaf and spread quickly,” said Molleur. “If the firefighter resources are all dedicated to putting out fires in the woods, that means that they are not available to respond right away to life-threatening situations, like building fires and car accidents.”
But with the rain coming toward the end of this week and possibly snow soon after, this burn ban may finally come so local residents can fry their turkeys and stoke those fires to keep warm.
