Large Brush Fire Causes I-95 Closures In Fairfield, Westport Area

WESTPORT, CT — Emergency crews spent two hours Wednesday responding to a large brush fire, which caused closures along Interstate 95 near the Fairfield-Bridgeport border.

Firefighters were notified around 1 p.m. of the blaze, which stretched across the grass and marsh from Parsell Lane in Westport to I-95. In total, 30 firefighters and officers from the Fairfield and Westport fire departments were on the scene, along with seven engines and a ladder truck. State police also assisted.

No one was injured and no property was damaged, but crews had to close the Exit 19 on-ramp and one lane of the interstate, according to Fairfield Assistant Chief Roger Caisse.

Around the same time, Westport firefighters put out another brush fire on the Sherwood Island Connector at Nyala Farms Road, according to a fire department news release.

“Connecticut traditionally experiences high forest fire danger in the spring from mid-March through May,” the news release said. “With little rainfall in the last weeks and low relative humidity, the fire danger has been ‘High’ or ‘Very High’ the previous week.”

In an average year, about 500 acres of Connecticut woodland are burned by forest and brush fires, according to the news release. People who see a brush fire should call 911 and report it.