Published: Nov. 2, 2024 at 12:37 PM EDT |Updated: 8 hours ago EAST LYME, CT (WFSB) – Fire crews in Connecticut are battling numerous brush fires that have broken out across the state over the weekend. About half a dozen fire departments came out to Sunny Brook State Park at around 1:30 p.m. in Torrington for a rapidly spreading brush fire. The fire is a couple of thousand feet into the woods. About 9 acres have burned. The park was closed while the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, along with local fire departments, worked to contain the fire. The fire now has a perimeter around it. The park will be closed again tomorrow when crews return in the morning, along with DEEP. So far, there have been no injuries. Rocky Neck State Park is currently shut down until further notice as firefighters battle a brush fire that expanded from five acres to around 46. The blaze broke out right around noon on Saturday. Connecticut State Parks announced the closure on their X account (formerly Twitter). Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme,CT is closed due to Fire https://t.co/j9vS72k78d — CT State Parks (@CTStateParks) November 2, 2024 According to Deputy Chief Erik Quinn of the East Lyme Fire Department, firefighters are facing challenges accessing the fire on the hiking trails due to difficult terrain. State fire control officers say the fire is quite active in a rocky, remote area closer to Mount Laurel. Local firefighting teams are on the scene, with assistance from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). DEEP has stated that it may take a few days before the park reopens. “Without rain, the grounds getting dryer and the leaves are like walking on potato chips out there. Fires burn with three things, heat fuel and oxygen, the wind adds more oxygen and it makes a bigger fire and allows that fire to spread much more quickly,” said Connecticut Fire Control Officer Rich Schenk. Eduardo Silva didn’t expect to see clouds of smoke during his afternoon bike ride through the park. “It was right across the trail, the white trail,” he said. At one point, he even tried fighting the fire himself. “I tried to put it out with some green branches but it got too big for me so I had to just leave. It was spreading fast because it was getting windy,” he continued. The park is set to reopen on Thursday, but trails near the fire will remain closed. Emergency officials also say that significant progress has been made battling the most severe fire, which has burned 127 acres on Lamentation Mountain in Berlin. Berlin Fire Chief Jonn Massirio says that crews have about 50% of the fire lines secure and the goal is to get up to 100% by week’s end. “Our drop tanks, our hose lines, and all our equipment will remain in place up there, the crews might transition more of that mop-up face where we’re going in there and digging up grounds to more of a patrol by midweek,” he said. He also says that he hopes to move operations into a monitoring phase by the middle of the next week. Ground crews will be reduced, but DEEP as well as municipal crews will make trips up the mountain to make sure nothing is flaring up. There have been also multiple houses that have been destroyed by fires over the weekend. One was in Roxbury where environmental officials confirmed a home was destroyed. In Orange, there was an outbuilding, supplies, and equipment destroyed by a fire surrounding Dogburn Road on Friday. Schenk also said that the amount of fires being monitored in the state has risen to 106, they have battled 126 fires in total. While the fires rage on, officials keep reminding residents what they can do to prevent fires at their homes. “If you have a tree line in your backyard, you want to make sure that’s held back a minimum of 30-50 feet from your home. You don’t want to have trees encroaching on your home that could spread fire to your home or possibly hot ash from your chimney or fireplace lighting a forest fire,” said Massirio. The majority of fires have started when people do not properly dispose of ashes from wood stoves. For the latest updates, stay tuned to Channel 3 News as more information becomes available. Copyright 2024 WFSB. All rights reserved. Most Read