Apparently the local cadre of copper seekers and alike did not get the message that burning anything in and around grass and leaves is more than likely to start fires.
The Wednesday night brush fire in Delhaas Woods is still smoldering and was apparently caused by individuals burning wire for copper in very dry conditions, fire officials said Thursday. Third District Fire Chief Howard McGoldrick said investigators from the township fire marshal’s office and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) are leading the inquiry. DCNR probes any unusual wildfires.
The fire destroyed up to four acres of forestry and was difficult to locate by first responders when they first arrived on the scene and remained fighting the numerous fires for about seven hours.
First reports of a fire burning in the Bristol Township area came into Lower Bucks Source around 9:20 p.m. on Wednesday from a tipster living along the New Falls Road corridor in Levittown. From an apartment window, the tipster said, smoke was blanketing the area and seemed to be coming from the Bristol-Oxford Valley Road area. Minutes later, fire companies from Third District, Croydon, Bristol Consolidated, Newport, Falls, Lingohocken, Bucks County EMA, Bristol Twp Public Works, Newportville, and DCNR were dispatched to the woods at 9:45 p.m. and there they stayed until 5 a.m. Thursday.
Copper wire coats found at the fire scene by fire officials Credit: Third District Fire Company
Fire crews were originally dispatched to the woods to investigate a possible fire, first responder sources said, and the heavy smoke conditions from the burning brush surrounding the woods and forestry at Silver Lake stretching all way to the Bristol Twp Municipal Complex made the scene seem real eerily on Hallows eve. A commenter describing the township building looking like it was being swallowed up by smoke engulfing the area.
Third District Fire Chief Howard McGoldrick said between two and four acres were burning in a 12-acre area of the woods section of Silver Lake Park when arriving on scene. He said the fire was burning underground in the ‘duff’ and popping up in numerous locations, presenting an array of challenges for responding fire crews. Numerous burnt trees were cut down for safety reasons, McGoldrick said, preventing embers from dropping and spreading the fire.
A tree destroyed by the Delhaas brush fires
Credit: Third District Fire Company
The county and the township brought in heavy equipment to cut a line around the fire, the fire chief said, for fire containment purposes. The fire will burn in the containment area for days, with smoke continuing to blanket the area also for days, McGoldrick said.
Credit: Third District Fire Company
First responders were called back to the woods by DCNR hours later to assist monitoring the still smoldering fire in the containment area, fire officials said. DCNR set up sprinklers letting them run until 5 p.m. Thursday evening and will repeat that process on Friday, McGoldrick said.
Last week at the urging of fire officials, Bucks County issued a ban on burning to the extended period of dry conditions affecting the area. The ban prohibits open fires, including the incineration of garbage, leaves, grass, twigs, litter, paper and other materials whether in burn barrels, fire rings or on the ground.
It was just under two years ago when 7.3 acreage burned upThe fire burned up about 7.3 acres of brush and grass, before crews were able to place it, he said.”> in a brush fire at the grounds of the Silver Lake Nature Center.
Video provided by Emergency Services Reporter Ron Roberts
Remnants of what was left behind by the individuals striping wires for copper in the woods.
Credit: Third District Fire Company
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