By KENNEDY GRIFFIN
(Franklin County, MA) Persisting drought conditions in western Massachusetts are creating favorable environments for fires to catch. Most recently, there have been two brush fires. At 1 p.m. Tuesday there was a reported brush fire at Riverside Cemetery in Sunderland. Sunderland Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire by 1:25 p.m. There was also a reported brush fire at 2:20 p.m. on Tuesday on Greenfield Road in Colrain.
No injuries were reported at either fire and the causes are unknown. The drought conditions are persisting throughout the region, even with the storms we have had much of western Massachusetts is in a severe drought according to the US Drought Monitor. Drought conditions make for dangerous fire conditions as fires can catch easily and may be challenging to put out with limited resources.