TOLLAND COUNTY — Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is rating forest-fire danger as high in Tolland County on Saturday, October 24. Hartford and Litchfield counties are also rated high; all other areas of the state are rated moderate.
DEEP’s daily report urges caution with fires in parks, forests and other open spaces. The agency advises people to obey local open-burning rules, dispose of hot charcoal carefully and completely extinguish smoking materials.
A local open-burning permit is not valid when the forest-fire danger is high, very high or extreme if the permitted burn would be within 100 feet of grassland or woodland, according to DEEP. That condition is not the same as a blanket statewide burning ban; residents should follow the limits on their permit and local instructions.
DEEP asks anyone who spots a forest fire to report it to 911 and provide the location and time it was seen. The agency lists 860-424-3929 for fire-danger updates.
The accompanying file photograph shows a Connecticut DEEP forest-fire warning sign. It is not a photograph of a current wildfire or of conditions in Tolland County on Saturday.