By Susan Manning          

The current drought in Massachusetts – and in most of the country – was no help to containing the brushfire last month at Mass Audubon‘s Broadmoor location.   

According to its website, Broadmoor had a fire break out on Tuesday, Aug. 16. Despite firefighters from seven communities turning out to help battle the flames, it quickly spread to 5.8 acres. 

After several hours on the scene, firefighters were able to extinguish the flames. Some companies stayed on site to monitor the perimeter throughout the following morning to make sure it did not rekindle. 

Much of the area impacted by the fire was the grasslands area. Mass Audubon said larger trees and bird boxes were not damaged.

“Our trails were left unaffected. While the cause of the fire is unknown, we’re grateful for the quick response from the Natick, Framingham, Wayland, Hopkinton, Sherborn, Ashland, and Dover fire departments, who kept the impacts relatively low and people unharmed,” read their press release.

It continued, “On occasion, ecosystems like ours can experience modest fires. Infrequent, controllable brush burns help maintain a healthy nutrient cycle, and can actually encourage regrowth. However, when fires are large and destructive they have the opposite affect by burning mature trees and destroying the larger ecosystem.”

In the release, mass Audubon warned that with the current drought conditions, plants and even land Face a larger threat to wildfires.

“Special care should be taken to prevent an accidental fire since, as seen in this case, they spread rapidly.”

Courtesy photos