Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rebecca Tepper recently declared a Level 2 drought for our area. This youtube video helps to explain the factors that go into this declaration.
We have all heard that we are in a drought but what defines a drought situation?
Central Massachusetts is in a level 2 drought and we don’t see any relief in the near term. Recent rain has had minimal impact on the ground water.
We may face more brush fires
Princeton had two brush fires, one of which was major, in the past four weeks. Last week we provided support with a fire on the Princeton / Hubbardston line.
- All three fires were due to improper disposal of an ignited product and not properly extinguishing a cooking or camp fire
- Both major fires burned for two days and took over 120 firefighters and district task forces to find, control and extinguish
- Both major fires were identified by overflying planes in the area
What you can do
The dryer it gets the more at risk we are for major fires that can burn out of control and threaten personal property. You can help by:
- Never leaving a cooking fire or camp fire unattended
- Making sure those filres are properly extinguished
- If you see any evidence of a fire or heavy smoke in the area, be safe and dial 911 immediately