A house fire in western Jefferson County started a small wildfire Thursday morning, causing pre-evacuation warnings for people living in Golden Gate Canyon after flames spread to nearby trees and grass.
The Geneva fire burned less than an acre after it was first reported in the 10600 block of Ralston Creek Road at 11:35 a.m., according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Jefferson and Gilpin county officials sent out pre-evacuation warnings for a 3-mile radius around the fire and for homes in Golden Gate Estates, Braecher Ranchettes and the surrounding area.
The fire also briefly caused evacuations for the southern part of Golden Gate Canyon State Park and visitor center, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said in an email to The Denver Post.
Fire crews stopped forward progress on the fire by 12:34 p.m., and county officials lifted pre-evacuations for the surrounding area just after 1 p.m.
The Geneva fire was fully contained as of Thursday afternoon, according to the wildfire dispatch program WildCAD.
IPSWICH — A fire damaged a 2-½ story home on Drumlin Road in Ipswich on Monday night.
At 11:35 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 16, the Ipswich Fire Department responded to a report of smoke coming from the home at 10 Drumlin Road. While firefighters were en route, a police officer arrived on scene and reported fire showing from the house.
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DANVERS — Fire officials are reminding residents to check their fire alarms after it was determined there were no working alarms in the Danvers home of a man killed in a blaze last week.
The fire broke out in a single-family home at 36 MacArthur Blvd. around noon on Jan. 27.
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Sunny Sethi, founder of HEN Technologies, doesn’t sound like someone who’s disrupted an industry that has remained largely unchanged since the 1960s. His company builds fire nozzles — specifically, nozzles that it says increase suppression rates by up to 300% while conserving 67% of water. But Sethi is matter-of-fact about this achievement, more focused on what’s next than what’s already been done. And what’s next sounds a lot bigger than fire nozzles.
His path to firefighting doesn’t follow a tidy narrative. After nabbing his PhD at the University of Akron, where he researched surfaces and adhesion, he founded ADAP Nanotech, an outfit that developed a carbon nanotube-based portfolio and won Air Force Research Lab grants. Next, at SunPower, he developed new materials and processes for shingled photovoltaic modules. When he landed next at a company called TE Connectivity, he worked on devices with new adhesive formulations to enable faster manufacturing in the automotive industry.
Then came a challenge from his wife. The two had moved from Ohio to the East Bay outside San Francisco in 2013. A few years later came the Thomas Fire — the only megafire they’d ever see, they thought. Then came the Camp Fire, then the Napa-Sonoma fires. The breaking point came in 2019. Sethi was traveling during evacuation warnings while his wife was home alone with their then three-year-old daughter, no family nearby, facing a potential evacuation order. “She was really mad at me,” Sethi recalls. “She’s like, ‘Dude, you need to fix this, otherwise you’re not a real scientist.’”
A background spanning nanotechnology, solar, semiconductors, and automotive had made his thinking “bias free and flexible,” as he puts it. He’d seen so many industries, so many different problems. Why not try to fix the problem?
In June 2020, he founded HEN Technologies (for high-efficiency nozzles) in nearby Hayward. With National Science Foundation funding, he conducted computational fluid dynamics research, analyzing how water suppresses fire and how wind affects it. The result: a nozzle that controls droplet size precisely, manages velocity in new ways, and resists wind.
In HEN’s comparison video, which Sethi shows me over a Zoom call, the difference is stark. It’s the same flow rate, he says, but HEN’s pattern and velocity control keep the stream coherent while traditional nozzles disperse.
But the nozzle is just the beginning — what Sethi calls “the muscle on the ground.” HEN has since expanded into monitors, valves, overhead sprinklers, and pressure devices, and is launching a flow-control device (“Stream IQ”) and discharge control systems this year. According to Sethi, each device contains custom-designed circuit boards with sensors and computing power — 23 different designs that turn dumb hardware into smart, connected equipment, some powered by Nvidia Orion Nano processors. Altogether, says Sethi, HEN has filed 20 patent applications with half a dozen granted so far.
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The real innovation is the system these devices create. HEN’s platform uses sensors at the pump to act as a virtual sensor in the nozzle, tracking exactly when it’s on, how much water flows, and what pressure is required. The system captures precisely how much water was used for a given fire, how it was used, which hydrant was tapped, and what the weather conditions were.
Why it matters: Fire departments can run out of water otherwise, because there’s no communication between water suppliers and firefighters. It happened in the Palisades Fire. It happened in the Oakland Fire decades earlier. When two engines are connected to one hydrant, pressure variations can mean that one engine suddenly gets nothing as a fire continues to grow. In rural America, water tenders, which are tankers shuttling water from distant sources, face their own logistical nightmares. If they can integrate water usage calculations with their own utility monitoring systems to optimize resource allocation, that’s a giant win.
So HEN built a cloud platform with application layers, which Sethi likens to what Adobe did with cloud infrastructure. Think Individual à la carte systems for fire captains, battalion chiefs, and incident commanders. HEN’s system has weather data; it has GPS in all devices. It can warn those on the front lines that the wind is about to shift and they’d better move their engines, or that a particular fire truck is running out of water.
The Department of Homeland Security has been asking for exactly this kind of system through its NERIS program, which is an initiative to bring predictive analytics to emergency operations. “But you can’t have [predictive analytics] unless you have good quality data,” Sethi notes. “You can’t have good quality data unless you have the right hardware.”
HEN isn’t monetizing that data yet. It’s implementing data nodes, putting devices in as many systems as possible, building the data pipeline, creating the data lake. Next year, says Sethi, it will start commercializing the application layer with its built-in intelligence.
If building a predictive analytics platform for emergency response sounds daunting, Sethi says actually selling it is tougher, and he’s proudest of HEN’s traction on that front.
“The hardest part of building this company is that this market is tough because it’s a B2C play when you think of convincing the customers to buy, but the procurement cycle is B2B,” he explains. “So you have to really make a product that resonates with people — with the end user — but you still have to go through government purchasing cycles, and we have cracked both of those.”
The numbers bear this out. HEN launched its first products into the market in the second quarter of 2023, lining up 10 fire departments and generating $200,000 in revenue. Then word started to spread. Revenue hit $1.6 million in 2024, then $5.2 million last year. This year, Hen, which currently has 1,500 fire department customers, is projecting $20 million in revenue.
HEN has competition, of course. IDEX Corp, a public company, sells hoses, nozzles, and monitors. Software companies like Central Square serve fire departments. A Miami company, First Due, which sells software to public safety agencies, announced a massive $355 million round last August. But no company is “doing exactly what we are trying to do,” insists Sethi.
Still, Sethi says that the constraint isn’t demand — it’s scaling fast enough. HEN serves the Marine Corps, US Army bases, Naval atomic labs, NASA, Abu Dhabi Civil Defense, and ships to 22 countries. It works through 120 distributors and recently qualified for GSA after a year-long vetting process (that’s a federal seal of approval that makes it easier for military and government agencies to buy).
Fire departments buy about 20,000 new engines each year to replace aging equipment in a national fleet of 200,000, so once HEN is qualified, it becomes recurring revenue (is the idea), and because the hardware generates data, revenue continues between purchase cycles.
HEN’s dual goal has required building a very specific team. Its software lead was formerly a senior director who helped build Adobe’s cloud infrastructure. Other members of HEN’s 50-person team include a former NASA engineer and veterans from Tesla, Apple, and Microsoft. “If you ask me technical questions, I would not be able to answer everything,” Sethi admits with a laugh, “but I have such good teams that [it] has been a blessing.”
Indeed, it’s the software that hints at where this gets interesting, because while HEN is selling nozzles, it’s amassing something more valuable: data. Highly specific, real-world data about how water behaves under pressure, how flow rates interact with materials, how fire responds to suppression techniques, how physics works in active fire environments.
It’s exactly what companies building so-called world models need. These AI systems that construct simulated representations of physical environments to predict future states require real-world, multimodal data from physical systems under extreme conditions. You can’t teach AI about physics through simulations alone. You need what HEN collects with every deployment.
Sethi won’t elaborate, but he knows what he’s sitting on. Companies training robotics and predictive physics engines would pay handsomely for this kind of real-world physics data.
Investors see it, too. Last month, HEN closed a $20 million Series A round, plus $2 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank. O’Neil Strategic Capital led the financing, with NSFO, Tanas Capital, and z21 Ventures participating. The round brought the company’s total funding to more than $30 million.
Sethi, meanwhile, is already looking ahead. He says the company will return to fundraising in the second quarter of this year.
STOW — Massachusetts fire and environmental leaders are reminding residents to use caution, care, and common sense if they plan to burn certain agricultural waste during open burning season, which began Thursday and runs until May 1.
State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine, Commissioner Bonnie Heiple of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Chief Fire Warden David Celino of the Department of Conservation and Recreation said restrictions on open burning are imposed at the state and local levels.
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Denver firefighters responded to a house on Thursday night that was “fully involved” in a fire, extinguishing the blaze in the Globeville neighborhood in less than 15 minutes.
Division Chief of Operations Robert Murphy said the house, at 43rd Avenue and Cherokee Street, was vacant and no one was injured in the fire.
Denver Fire crews arrived on scene to find a fully involved house fire in the area of I-25 and I-70. Crews initiated a defensive fire attack on the vacant structure. No injuries. Fire investigators on scene to determine cause. pic.twitter.com/WD5Q8n8hRp
The Denver Fire Department got the call on a one-alarm blaze around 8:40 p.m. Christmas night, Murphy said, and seven trucks and emergency vehicles responded to the scene.
“There was nobody there when we got there,” he said. “We started attacking from the outside. There are still parts of the house standing, but it’s going to have to come down.”
Testing Performed at Chippewa Valley Technical College Fire Safety Center under Director Chris Turner
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga., October 20, 2025 (Newswire.com)
– Enforcer One, LLC proudly announces that its FIREBULL AB fluorine-free and PFAS-free firefighting foam concentrate and Enforcer AIR 3 compressed air foam system (CAFS) have successfully met the fire performance requirements of NTA 8133:2021, the internationally recognized Dutch Technical Agreement establishing standards for extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires.
Testing was performed at the Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC) Fire Safety Center (FSC) under the direction of Chris Turner, confirming that FIREBULL AB and Enforcer AIR 3 deliver the cooling power and fire control performance required to suppress lithium battery fires safely and effectively.
About the NTA 8133 Test
NTA 8133:2021 defines the performance, testing, and marking requirements for extinguishing agents and portable extinguishers suitable for lithium battery fires. The standard replicates a thermal runaway event using six Lithium-Ion 4S pouch cells, assessing an agent’s ability to:
Rapidly extinguish active battery fires within three minutes of ignition. FIREBULL AB extinguished flames within the first 16-20 seconds on each test. The Enforcer AIR 3 provided an additional 40 seconds of spray time to cool and prevent rekindle.
Prevent re-ignition during a 20-minute monitoring period, and
Preserve at least one set of cells with at least one of the cells in the set maintaining 3.7 volts post-extinguishment. FIREBULL AB preserved two sets of batteries in one test and preserved three sets of batteries in the second test.
FIREBULL AB and Enforcer AIR 3 achieved these results on tests up to 600 Wh, demonstrating exceptional performance under the strict test conditions outlined in Annex A of NTA 8133.
Superior Cooling Performance for Total Extinguishment
Unlike traditional foams or water-based agents, FIREBULL AB delivers advanced heat absorption and cooling capabilities that directly address the extreme temperatures generated during lithium battery thermal runaway. The unique formulation cools the cells and surrounding materials rapidly, reducing the chance of re-ignition and achieving true extinguishment rather than temporary suppression.
This superior cooling action makes FIREBULL AB especially effective in applications where sustained fire suppression and temperature control are critical-such as battery manufacturing plants, EV facilities, and storage areas.
PFAS-Free, Non-Hazardous, and Non-Toxic
FIREBULL AB represents a new generation of environmentally responsible firefighting technology. It is 100% fluorine-free (PFAS-free), non-hazardous, and non-toxic, ensuring the highest level of safety for responders, workers, and the environment.
Unlike AFFF foams, FIREBULL AB leaves no persistent chemical residue and requires no special cleanup or containment, supporting compliance with emerging PFAS restrictions across the United States and internationally.
Implications Across Key Industries
The successful completion of NTA 8133 testing provides new assurance and capability for several critical sectors:
Firefighting: Supplies departments with a verified, high-performance, PFAS-free solution for emerging battery and EV fire risks.
Battery & EV Manufacturing: Protects production lines, testing facilities, and charging stations from potentially catastrophic lithium-ion events.
Warehousing & Logistics: Ensures rapid suppression and cooling of battery-powered tools, equipment, and e-mobility products in storage and transit.
Transportation: Provides an efficient and portable suppression option for fleet operators and service teams managing battery-powered vehicles.
“This achievement reinforces Enforcer One’s leadership in advancing the next generation of clean firefighting technologies,” said Ron Thames, President and CEO of Enforcer One, LLC. “With FIREBULL AB and Enforcer AIR 3, we’re not only meeting international performance standards but also delivering safer, sustainable tools for the industries facing tomorrow’s toughest fire challenges.”
About Enforcer One, LLC
Enforcer One, LLC is a U.S.-based manufacturer of advanced Compressed Air Foam Systems (CAFS) and fluorine-free firefighting agents. Its leading products-Enforcer CAFS, Enforcer AIR 3, and FIREBULL foam concentrates-combine proven performance with environmental responsibility. Enforcer One’s solutions are trusted worldwide by fire departments, industrial facilities, airports, and defense organizations for their efficiency, reliability, and safety. See more at www.enforcerone.com
A slowly growing, nearly contained wildfire burning on Colorado’s Western Slope is now the fourth-largest on state record, according to fire officials.
As of Monday night, the 90% contained Lee fire had scorched 138,844 acres between Meeker and Rifle. It grew by 1,086 acres on Monday, after multiple days with minimal to no growth.
The new acres consumed by the Lee fire bumped the wildfire from fifth-largest to fourth-largest in Colorado history, passing the 137,760-acre Hayman fire that sparked in 2002, according to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
The Lee fire is now less than 200 acres away from becoming the third-largest wildfire on state record. Currently, that ranking belongs to the 2020 Pine Gulch fire that burned 139,007 acres.
Rain showers and thunderstorms are forecast across the Western Slope again on Tuesday, bringing much-needed moisture to the state, fire officials said. Previous hot, dry and windy conditions fueled rapid fire growth in multiple counties across western Colorado, charring thousands of acres outside of the Lee fire.
A wildland firefighting truck heads down a road through a hillside burned from the Lee fire near Colorado 64 in Rio Blanco County, west of Meeker, on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Lee and Elk fires, near Meeker
The largest wildfire burning in Colorado — now the fourth-largest ever recorded in the state — consumed more than 1,000 new acres after a week of slow growth and increased containment, fire officials said.
As of Monday night, the 138,844-acre Lee fire burning between Meeker and Rifle was 90% contained, fire officials said.
All mandatory evacuation orders were lifted Saturday, and areas on pre-evacuation status were downgraded to monitoring status on Monday.
No new evacuation orders were issued overnight Monday, despite the new fire growth. An updated evacuation map for Rio Blanco and Garfield counties is available online.
The Lee fire and nearby Elk fire, which consumed more than 14,500 acres before reaching full containment last week, have together destroyed at least five homes and 14 outbuildings, fire officials said.
Extreme drought, high temperatures and strong winds fueled rapid growth on both fires, which were sparked by lightning west and east of Meeker on Aug. 2.
Thunderstorms are most likely near Meeker and Rifle between 9 a.m. and midnight on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Rain showers, which are also expected in that period, could continue through 3 a.m. Wednesday before a brief reprieve.
Rainy weather is expected to continue on Wednesday and Thursday, forecasters said.
While the rain is helpful, afternoon thunderstorms also increase the risk of gusty winds, frequent lightning and flash flooding along burn scars, fire officials said.
Road closures tied to the smaller Crosho fire near Yampa were lifted Monday afternoon. That fire has burned 2,073 acres and is 81% contained.
A plane drops fire retardant on the Derby fire burning in Eagle County on Aug. 22, 2025. (Photo provided by Derby Fire Information)
Derby fire, in Eagle County
A wildfire burning on the edge of Eagle and Garfield counties has scorched more than 5,300 acres, fire officials.
The Derby fire is burning on 5,346 acres with no containment, up roughly 100 acres from Sunday and 1,200 acres from Saturday, fire officials said Monday. No size update was available Tuesday morning.
“We have totally changed the pattern from hot and dry,” said meteorologist Ryan Fliehman in a Monday evening briefing. “I’m afraid we might get too much rain. We are still having chances of precipitation six days out.”
Rain has forced some fire crews to pull back, and crews need to take extra care to avoid damaging dirt roads, which have turned muddy, Operations Chief Ben Patton said.
No containment has been reported on the fire, but officials hope to start solidifying the first bits of containment in the coming days.
The Derby fire was discovered on “remote, rugged terrain” in the White River National Forest, about 15 miles from Dotsero in Eagle County, on Aug. 17, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
It differs from the others burning in Colorado in that it started at higher elevations and has tried to push downhill at night.
Mandatory evacuations and pre-evacuations are in place for the northwest corner of Eagle County, including the town of Gypsum, and an eastern section of Garfield County.
Evacuations were lifted for Sweetwater Valley and Sheep Creek at 10 a.m. Monday, allowing limited access for residents to return home, according to fire officials. Those who need to access Sweetwater Valley and Colorado River Road are being asked to limit their driving to between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to avoid disrupting emergency operations.
At least one building has been destroyed by the wildfire, but it’s unclear what type of building it was.
Parts of White River National Forest remain closed in Eagle and Garfield counties, including southwest of Sweetwater Lake to the west rim of Deep Creek Canyon, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Some BLM lands are also closed, including north and west of Gypsum, north of Coffee Pot Road, west of the Colorado River, east of the White River National Forest boundary and south of Derby Creek.
IPSWICH — Firefighters rescued a father and son who were trapped inside of a burning home next to a horse barn on Linebrook Road midday Monday.
First responders were called to 383 Linebrook Road at 11:51 a.m. to respond to a structure fire on the property, and learned en route that two people were trapped inside by the flames, the Ipswich Fire Department said in a statement.
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GLOUCESTER — At least one person was taken to the hospital as a blaze ripped through a home at 62 Woodward Ave. on Saturday afternoon.
Fire Chief Eric Smith said the Gloucester Fire Department responded to a two-alarm fire at the waterfront property about 2:20 p.m., finding heavy fire and smoke showing from the building.
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Several large brush fires broke out across the region this weekend amid the ongoing dry weather.
A large brush fire had been smoldering for a day off Cain Road and Highland Avenue in Salem before flames broke out early Sunday morning.
Salem firefighters were trying to contain the blaze via a controlled burn, according to reports, but also had to work to protect buildings and homes close to the flames. The fire also threatened a cell tower at one point.
A public safety alert just before 10 a.m. urged residents to avoid the area.
In Beverly, a brush fire broke out near 40 Enon St., behind McDonald’s toward Wenham Lake, on Saturday blanketing the area in smoke.
Two brush fires were also reported in Topsfield on Saturday. And yet another brush fire was reported in Middleton Sunday afternoon near Emerson Brook Reservoir.
A red flag warning is in place across Massachusetts, indicating extreme fire danger.
NEWBURY — A 54-year-old man who fell from a boat was rescued Sunday night at Riverfront Marina.
The unidentified man was pulled from the water shortly after 6:10 p.m. as the Newbury Police and Fire departments responded to the marina at 292 High Road, according to Deputy Police Chief Aaron Wojtkowski and Fire Chief David Evans.
Sgt. Jason DaCunha was the first officer to arrive and, along with Officer Manny Terrero, helped hold the man’s head above water until additional emergency personnel responded, the chiefs said in a release.
Police used flotation devices to assist the man. His wife tried to rescue him but could not and called 911.
Fire Department Lt. Keith Grant and firefighter Andrea Ball also assisted with the rescue. The man was taken to Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport for a medical evaluation.
Evans praised first responders from both departments.
“We are very thankful for the outcome this evening and are glad we have a great working relationship between departments, as well as a great group of emergency personnel,” he said in the release.
The human-sparked Pearl fire burning west of Fort Collins in Larimer County is 75% contained, fire officials announced Saturday.
The Pearl fire — a wildfire that started on private property in Larimer County on Monday — is burning on 128 acres of land near Red Feather Lakes, fire officials said. That’s nearly the same size as 97 football fields put together.
Containment isn’t the end of a wildfire, it’s merely the status of a control line being completed around the fire that can stop the flames’ spread. A wildfire can continue to burn for days or weeks after being fully contained.
Larimer County officials are still investigating what started the Pearl fire but said it was human-caused.
As rain and snow move in Saturday afternoon on northern Colorado — creating more favorable firefighting conditions — the Incident Management Team plans to reduce the number of resources assigned to the fire, according to a news release from the U.S. Forest Service.
Residents in the Crystal Lakes area living off of Pearl Beaver Road, Bear Ridge Drive, Mount Hellene Drive and near Deadman Lookout remain on mandatory evacuation orders Saturday, according to the county evacuation map.
The Forest Service also issued a closure order for the immediate fire area.
LAWRENCE — Some Sunset Avenue residents were reunited with their beloved dog after a fire ripped through a multifamily home Monday evening.
About 20 residents were displaced from the home at 34 Sunset Ave. The accidental fire ignited on the second floor of the building, “which appeared to have undergone unpermitted renovations” and had illegal apartments, Fire Chief Brian Moriarty said.
The house also lacked adequate working smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors and methods of access and egress, Moriarty said.
Firefighters initially conducted a search for anyone who was possibly trapped. All residents had safely evacuated, however.
A small dog also made it out of the house Monday evening. But come Tuesday morning, the residents could not find their pet.
Firefighter Jean Jimenez battled the blaze Monday and also worked an overnight shift Tuesday. He and other firefighters returned to 34 Sunset Ave. on Tuesday as part of their ongoing training.
While inside the charred home Tuesday, Jimenez found the little missing dog. She was on the first floor.
“They were extremely happy,” Jimenez said of the family members, who immediately gathered around their dog.
Moriarty said firefighters worked swiftly to contain and knock down the fire. The home is “unhabitable” and the building inspector was notified of the unsafe conditions.
Allowing five apartments in a two-family is home is extremely dangerous, Moriarty said.
“It’s unsafe,” he added. “People don’t realize how close to death they just came … I am terrified we are going to have a disaster someday.”
Lawrence firefighters routinely encounter similar conditions and living situations when fighting fires.
“Things went really well,” Moriarty said. “But we are really lucky we averted disaster again.”
The house, built in 1930, is valued at $733,100, according to city assessing records.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter/X @EagleTribJill.
Gloucester firefighters and those from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation were out in the woods off Dory Road on Monday morning dousing hot spots from a brush fire Sunday that appears to have been started at an encampment, according to the fire chief.
Gloucester Firefighters Local 762 posted Sunday on Facebook that firefighters were working with Rockport Fire and DCR to manage the blaze, crediting Group 3 firefighters for doing a “great job … given the limited access and rough terrain.” Rehab 5 also responded to provide rehabilitation services for firefighters.
The Gloucester police log shows a 911 call for “black smoke in the area” of Dory Road at 11:20 a.m. Sunday. A subsequent 911 call reported “smoke near Blackburn” at 11:29 a.m.
A caller from Stage Fort Park reported seeing smoke coming from the Blackburn Industrial Park area, according to a police report.
The smoke could be seen from the water. Rockport’s dispatch center related the town’s harbormaster saw black smoke coming from the same area. Dispatchers notified the MBTA.
Signs the area held an encampment included an old mattress, tent poles and a cooler in the woods, according to photos shared on Facebook and Times photo editor Paul Bilodeau. The location is about a half-mile into the woods.
Fire Chief Eric Smith said an area of 100 feet by 100 feet burned between Dory Road of Blackburn Industrial Park and the railroad tracks of the Rockport commuter rail line. With the dry weather, the fire was able to get “deep into the peat” where it can smolder underground and reignite. Smith said a small crew was out Monday hosing down the area.
He said he heard radio communications of there being an encampment, but the cause of the fire had yet to be determined. He said brush fires in the woods in the area from encampments have been an issue in the past.
In mid-May 2023, firefighters doused a brush fire that burned about 1 1/2 acres in the vicinity of the Babson Water Treatment Plant. It was the same general area as a brush fire that burned 2 acres along the southbound side of the Route 128 Extension on May 8, caused by a campfire.
With this latest stretch of dry weather, it’s not just campfires that pose a fire risk but other forms of outdoor fires such as those in a fire pit or chiminea, Smith said.
“Anything that gets going, it’s just going to take off,” he said.
He said brush fires don’t start on their own most of the time.
“Somebody did something incendiary that got away from them,” Smith said.
No injuries were reported after a fire broke out in equipment inside a large fish processing building at 3 State Fish Pier late Wednesday morning.
Gloucester fire companies responded to a working fire at 11:05 a.m. in a portion of the expansive industrial complex on the pier with a “Cape Seafoods Gloucester” sign on the exterior. They made quick work of the fire, according to a social media post by Gloucester Firefighters Local 762.
“Another great stop Group 1,” the post read.
“Upon arrival we had some thick, black smoke coming out the windows,” Deputy Chief Andrew McRobb, the Group 1 shift commander. said. “Employees informed me that it was a fiberglass turbine that got going, so it was fiberglass burning.”
“Crews showed up, made an offensive attack with an inch-and-three-quarter (hose), finished putting the fire out and we are in the process of venting the building right now,” he said at 11:45 a.m.
“No injuries,” McRobb said. “Crews did a search of the building,” he said, but nobody was inside when crews arrived.
“A lot of the employees did the bulk of the work prior to our arrival,” McRobb said. When asked what business this was, McRobb said it was “some type of fish processing.”
Fire companies responded to both sides of the large complex; Engine 1 and the deputy chief to the North Channel side of the building, and Ladder 1, Engine 5 and Engine 2 to the South Channel side. Also responding was Beauport Ambulance Service and a Gloucester Fire Rescue squad. The Police Department’s patrol boat was seen on the water in the North Channel.
After the fire was extinguished, a couple of firefighters could be seen opening a high window along the back of the facility to vent smoke. Some workers standing outside said everyone was OK when asked.
The company, Cape Seafoods, Inc., was able to remain open for business after firefighters conducted extensive ventilation of the building.
Kim Kardashian, who in recent years has become an advocate for criminal justice reform, paid a visit last week to a camp in the mountains of Northern California where incarcerated men serve as firefighters, often deploying to the front lines of the state’s biggest blazes.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection posted photos of the visit, saying Kardashian had visited Growlersburg Camp No. 33 in El Dorado County and met with several crews to “learn more about the program and show support.” The camp, Cal Fire noted, is jointly operated by the California Department of Corrections and Cal Fire. Incarcerated people are trained to pursue careers in firefighting upon their release, the post said.
Kardashian, who was accompanied by her sister Kendall Jenner, later posted more photos of her visit on her own Instagram account, which, with 361 million followers, attracts quite a bit more attention than Cal Fire’s Amador-El Dorado Facebook page. Kardashian wore a black shoulderless turtleneck and black sneakers; the firefighters wore orange fire-protective jumpsuits with heavy-duty boots.
“These incredible men are incarcerated firefighters saving our state, homes and communities from fire,” she wrote, adding that the firefighters can expunge their felony records and “go into firefighting” when they get out.
Several people jumped into the comments section on Kardashian’s post to exclaim that they had spotted their family members in the photos.
“That’s my son in the back in the 5th picture,” one woman wrote. “Thank you for rooting for those boys.”
Kardashian, who became a worldwide celebrity thanks to her family’s reality show and social media, met with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House for a roundtable on criminal justice reform earlier this year. And last week, she announced on her Instagram page that she had recently visited the Department of Justice in Washington to discuss prisoners “who have taken accountability for their crimes … and are ready to come home from our prisons and be with their families.”
IPSWICH — The Fire Department extinguished a brush fire near a home on Wednesday and no injuries were reported, officials said.
About 4:41 p.m., the Fire Department was called to the area of 19 James Road, near Dix Road and the Ipswich Country Club, for a report of a brush fire, Fire Chief Paul Parisi reported in a news release.
Engine 4, under the command of Lt. Gus McInnis, was the first company to arrive and found an estimated 75-foot-by-75-foot section of brush burning about 100 yards from a home.
An additional engine was called. Mutual aid firefighters from Rowley responded, while firefighters from Essex and Topsfield covered Ipswich stations. Off-duty and call members of the Ipswich Fire Department responded as well.
Through a spokesman, Parisi said the fire was under control within an hour. First responders cleared the scene in less than two hours.
The cause of the brush fire is under investigation and it would be unusual for such a fire to spontaneously ignite, he said.
While the brush fire was being extinguished, Ipswich Police and Action EMS responded to a motor vehicle crash in the area of 80 Linebrook Road, and to medical calls on County Road and Water Street.
“The three-tiered response system we operate under here in Ipswich with police, fire and EMS, as well as our mutual aid partners, were critical in handling these simultaneous emergencies today,” Parisi said in the release. “We thank our partners for helping us when we needed them.”
GEORGETOWN — A woman died early Sunday in a four-alarm house fire on East Main Street.
Firefighters rescued the seriously injured woman from the second story of the burning 2½-story, single-family home but she later died at an area hospital, according to Georgetown Fire Chief Matt McKay.
The woman, whose name was not released, was carried out of a window and down a ladder. Three other occupants were able to safely evacuate after the fire broke out at 238 E. Main St. shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday, he said.
Huge flames engulfing the roof of the wood-frame home were shooting about 20 feet into the sky as firefighters arrived.
Firefighters from more than a dozen communities battled the blaze until bringing it under control at 12:46 a.m. Crews remained at the scene of the burned home, which was declared a total loss.
The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Georgetown Fire Department with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit with the State Fire Marshal’s Office, McKay said.
As the blaze continued to burn out of control, a second alarm was struck shortly before 11 p.m. to bring in firefighters from surrounding communities.
Third and fourth alarms were required to bring in more firefighters. East Main Street (Route 133) was closed in both directions for several hours during the blaze.
Firefighters from the Rowley, West Newbury, Newbury, Boxford, Newburyport, Topsfield, North Andover, Lawrence, Middleton, Haverhill, Groveland, Amesbury, Ipswich and Amesbury fire departments responded to the fire and provided station coverage.
Rehab 5, Cataldo Ambulance Service and Pridestar Trinity EMS also responded. The American Red Cross was notified to assist the displaced residents.
The Georgetown Municipal Light Department responded and turned off power to the home.
Investigators said Sunday that no additional information would be released until further notice.
The Biden administration on Wednesday finalized strict limits on certain so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water that will require utilities to reduce them to the lowest level they can be reliably measured. Officials say this will reduce exposure for 100 million people and help prevent thousands of illnesses, including cancers.
The rule is the first national drinking water limit on toxic PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are widespread and long-lasting in the environment.
Health advocates praised the Environmental Protection Agency for not backing away from tough limits the agency proposed last year. But water utilities took issue with the rule, saying treatment systems are expensive to install and that customers will end up paying more for water.
Water providers are entering a new era with significant additional health standards that the EPA says will make tap water safer for millions of consumers — a Biden administration priority. The agency has also proposed forcing utilities to remove dangerous lead pipes.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan says the rule is the most important action the EPA has ever taken on PFAS.
“The result is a comprehensive and life-changing rule, one that will improve the health and vitality of so many communities across our country,” said Regan.
PFAS chemicals are hazardous because they don’t degrade in the environment and are linked to health issues such as low birth weight and liver disease, along with certain cancers. The EPA estimates the rule will cost about $1.5 billion to implement each year, but doing so will prevent nearly 10,000 deaths over decades and significantly reduce serious illnesses.
They’ve been used in everyday products including nonstick pans, firefighting foam and waterproof clothing. Although some of the most common types are phased out in the U.S., others remain. Water providers will now be forced to remove contamination put in the environment by other industries.
“It’s that accumulation that’s the problem,” said Scott Belcher, a North Carolina State University professor who researches PFAS toxicity. “Even tiny, tiny, tiny amounts each time you take a drink of water over your lifetime is going to keep adding up, leading to the health effects.”
PFAS is a broad family of chemical substances, and the new rule sets strict limits on two common types — called PFOA and PFOS — at 4 parts per trillion. Three other types that include GenEx Chemicals that are a major problem in North Carolina are limited to 10 parts per trillion. Water providers will have to test for these PFAS chemicals and tell the public when levels are too high. Combinations of some PFAS types will be limited, too.
Regan will announce the rule in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
Environmental and health advocates praised the rule, but said PFAS manufacturers knew decades ago the substances were dangerous yet hid or downplayed the evidence. Limits should have come sooner, they argue.
“Reducing PFAS in our drinking water is the most cost effective way to reduce our exposure,” said Scott Faber, a food and water expert at Environmental Working Group. “It’s much more challenging to reduce other exposures such as PFAS in food or clothing or carpets.”
Over the last year, EPA has periodically released batches of utility test results for PFAS in drinking water. Roughly 16% of utilities found at least one of the two strictly limited PFAS chemicals at or above the new limits. These utilities serve tens of millions of people. The Biden administration, however, expects about 6-10% of water systems to exceed the new limits.
Water providers will generally have three years to do testing. If those test exceed the limits, they’ll have two more years to install treatment systems, according to EPA officials.
Some funds are available to help utilities. Manufacturer 3M recently agreed to pay more than $10 billion to drinking water providers to settle PFAS litigation. And the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes billions to combat the substance. But utilities say more will be needed.
For some communities, tests results were a surprise. Last June, a utility outside Philadelphia that serves nearly 9,000 people learned that one of its wells had a PFOA level of 235 parts per trillion, among the highest results in the country at the time.
“I mean, obviously, it was a shock,” said Joseph Hastings, director of the joint public works department for the Collegeville and Trappe boroughs, whose job includes solving problems presented by new regulations.
The well was quickly yanked offline, but Hastings still doesn’t know the contamination source. Several other wells were above the EPA’s new limits, but lower than those the state of Pennsylvania set earlier. Now, Hastings says installing treatment systems could be a multi-million dollar endeavor, a major expense for a small customer base.
The new regulation is “going to throw public confidence in drinking water into chaos,” said Mike McGill, president of WaterPIO, a water industry communications firm.
The American Water Works Association, an industry group, says it supports the development of PFAS limits in drinking water, but argues the EPA’s rule has big problems.
The agency underestimated its high cost, which can’t be justified for communities with low levels of PFAS, and it’ll raise customer water bills, the association said. Plus, there aren’t enough experts and workers — and supplies of filtration material are limited.
Work in some places has started. The company Veolia operates utilities serving about 2.3 million people across six eastern states and manages water systems for millions more. Veolia built PFAS treatment for small water systems that serve about 150,000 people. The company expects, however, that roughly 50 more sites will need treatment — and it’s working to scale up efforts to reduce PFAS in larger communities it serves.
Such efforts followed dramatic shifts in EPA’s health guidance for PFAS in recent years as more research into its health harms emerged. Less than a decade ago, EPA issued a health advisory that PFOA and PFOS levels combined shouldn’t exceed 70 parts per trillion. Now, the agency says no amount is safe.
Public alarm has increased, too. In Minnesota, for example, Amara’s Law aims to stop avoidable PFAS use. It’s been nearly a year since the law’s namesake, Amara Strande, died from a rare cancer her family blames on PFAS contamination by 3M near her high school in Oakdale, although a connection between PFAS and her cancer can’t be proven. Biden administration officials say communities shouldn’t suffer like Oakdale. 3M says it extends its deepest condolences to Amara’s friends and family.
Losing Amara pushed the family towards activism. They’ve testified multiple times in favor of PFAS restrictions.
“Four parts per trillion, we couldn’t ask for a better standard,” Amara’s sister Nora said. “It’s a very ambitious goal, but anything higher than that is endangering lives.”
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Associated Press data journalist Camille Fassett in San Francisco and reporter Matthew Daly in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.
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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
