Firefighters put out forest fires with choppers

One person found dead

By Trudy Tynan, Associated Press, 04/09/99

RUSSELL, Mass. -- A deputy fire chief collapsed and died as he and firefighters from nearly two dozen communities battled forest fires on a rugged, tinder-dry mountainside.

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RUSSELL, Mass. -- Firefighters took to the air and added ground reinforcements Friday to put down persistent forest fires that scorched more than 1,200 acres on a mountain range west of Springfield.

About 200 firefighters, mostly volunteers from over two dozen communities, worked with hoses and shovels on opposite faces of the Tekoa Mountain range. The day before, a fellow firefighter died while battling the blaze there.

Another person, who was believed to have been fighting a brush fire in Brewster, was found dead Friday morning, Brewster police said. The identity was being withheld until an autopsy. Police said the 2-acre fire started near a home with a brush fire permit.

West of Springfield, wind-whipped flames at times swept from the mountain range in Russell and Montgomery across the Westfield River. Some flames also spread into a Westfield forest.

Much of the terrain is hilly and difficult to reach, but firefighters managed to put out nearly all of the fire Friday, according to state Fire Marshal Stephen Coan. He said hot spots remained.

At least six Army National Guard helicopters from Massachusetts and Connecticut dumped water Friday onto the fire, according to Montgomery Fire Chief Steve Frye. More than 20 fire trucks joined the fight, said State Trooper Christopher Kudlay.

Acrid-smelling smoke hung in the air for the second day in communities east of the fires, including some in northern Connecticut.

Several dozen residents were temporarily evacuated Thursday, state police said.

Russell's deputy fire chief, volunteer John Murphy, 64, collapsed of an apparent heart attack as he worked on a fire line Thursday.

''If you had asked John, this would have been the way he would have wanted to go,'' said Huntington Police Chief Pete Webb, who was working about 15 feet away at the time.

Murphy's two sons, also volunteer firefighters, had been battling the fire elsewhere on the mountain.

At Russell's municipal electric utility, where Murphy worked as a linemen, two linemen from neighboring towns were lowering the flag in mourning Friday.

''They'll never replace him,'' said one of them, Dick Lynch, of Chester. ''Anytime I needed help, he'd be there for me.''

Investigators blamed the fire on a spark from a power saw. Fire Marshal Coan said a Conrail work crew accidentally set the fire about 12:30 p.m. Thursday while cutting track in the area.

He ruled out criminal wrongdoing. But he called for a future meeting of Conrail and local fire officials to consider whether stronger controls are needed on such work crews.

Conrail spokesman Bob Lipkind said it was a ''rather unique situation'' because of the dry conditions. But he said Conrail officials would be willing to discuss safety with government officials.

Lt. Gov. Jane Swift, who visited a fire command post in Montgomery, said Friday that the state is considering helping pay some of the local costs of fighting the fire.

Brush fires have broken out across the region in recent days in the wake of the dry, unseasonably warm weather.