Editors’ Note: This story will be updated as more information is made available.
A brush fire broke out on Nov. 18 near the Orchard Hill Observatory at around 5:15 p.m. According to the University of Massachusetts, the fire has been suppressed.
“The fire has been suppressed and no damage to the Observatory has been reported,” Melinda Rose, interim director for News and Media Relations at UMass, said in a statement to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian Monday night.
“The Amherst Fire Dept., UMass Police, Emergency Management and the university’s Fire Safety Officer from Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) responded [to the fire,]” Rose said. “EHS and UMPD will monitor the site overnight.”
Amherst has been under a Red Flag Warning, indicating a lack of moisture that could lead to increased fire risk. These conditions have been fueled by dry weather, creating drought conditions in much of the northeast. There have been a multitude of brush fires in Massachusetts and in the Northeast, including in Northampton.
Peter Tryby, a freshman on the exploratory track in the College of Natural Sciences, first smelled smoke at around 5:15 p.m. as he was approaching his dorm building.
“I thought maybe someone was just using one of the grills outside, I had not realized there was a fire,” Tryby said. “And then I started doing my laundry and when I came out someone had the door open and was talking about the fire.”
“I could see sort of flames low to the ground but over a pretty decent area just from the door,” Tryby said. He said the radius of the fire was “hard to judge because it’s so far away, but maybe 30 feet across.”
Ruby Morris, a freshman history major, was walking up to her dorm when she learned of the blaze. “My roommate came bursting out of her door, screamed ‘there’s a fire,’” Morris said.
According to Morris, firefighters and police got to the scene within five minutes of when she first saw the fire around 5:30 p.m.
“It seemed pretty big,” Morris said. “You could see the flames. They were kind of coming up off the ground there.”
Although it was dark, smoke was still visible. “You could definitely see it rising above the trees,” Tryby said.
“At first I was definitely concerned,” Morris said. “I’m not from the area, but I had a friend tell me that there’s been a huge increase in forest fires in just Massachusetts and New England, and my first thought was ‘oh it hasn’t rained in a while, so I don’t want it to go out of control.’ The first feeling was fear but then it came down [when] you know, all the firemen were here.”
“Because we’re in a drought I sort of was not shocked that there was a fire, but it was surprising how close it was,” Tryby said.
Firefighters appeared to contain the blaze, and the lights illuminating the smoke shifted from the fire to the red and white lights of fire trucks. A small crowd of students stood at the edge of Lot 49 by 6 p.m., watching from across the parking lot.
At 6:48 p.m., Lindsay Stromgren, interim Amherst fire chief, confirmed a brush fire in the woods near the Orchard Hill Observatory, and said he would continue to be there for a few hours. A plume of smoke was still visible, and lingered in the air.
Daniel Frank can be reached at [email protected]. Alex Rowe can be reached at [email protected]. Kalina Kornacki can be reached at [email protected].
