Firefighters Spend Day Knocking Down Flare-Ups At Mount Hood

(Editor's note: this article was updated on Wednesday, July 28 at 4:50 p.m.)

A small brush fire began burning again at Mount Hood on Wednesday morning, the day after Melrose firefighters battled a persistent brush fire for almost five hours on top of a remote, craggy hilltop off the 16th hole.

Melrose Fire Capt. Rich Fink said that a "small area" began burning again Wednesday morning, with the Fire Department's Engine 4 unit already at Mount Hood with the department's brush truck checking the area when the fire started again.

"They're re-hooking (water) lines up at Mount Hood," Fink said around 10:15 a.m. "They left all the lines up there, figuring they'd be back."

Melrose firefighters spent the day dousing the area with water and keeping the ground soaked to prevent flare-ups. Wispy smoke continued to rise in spots from the ashen, muddy ground. A firefighter on the hilltop on Wednesday afternoon told Melrose Patch that the brush fire that started Tuesday kept the soil, fallen leaves and pine needles smoking hot and capable of catching on fire again at any time.

As if on cue, a moment later a small fire flared up and was quickly put out. Because of the remote location of the brush fire, Melrose Fire engines continually drove back and forth from the fairway of the 16th hole to a fire hydrant near the Mount Hood parking lot in order to refill with water.

On Tuesday at approximately 2:45 p.m., the Melrose Fire Department first responded to a report of a brush fire off the 16th hole of Mount Hood Golf Course. The wooded area and steep slopes surrounding the fire presented difficulties for firefighters in determining how to attack the blaze.

"It was a pretty tough area," Fink said.

Firefighters ultimately decided to run hoses up a slope from the east, with trucks parked along the fairway, and splitting the hose at the top with a Y-connection.

With two hoses running, Melrose firefighters fought the fire on two fronts: on the south slope of the hill, where the fire threatened to spread down towards Penney Road, and towards the west and north, where the fire had also begun to spread.

At 5:20 p.m., firefighters called for additional support, with the Malden Fire Department's Engine 2 responding at that time to Mount Hood to assist.

Fink said that firefighters battled the blaze until almost 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Having not visited the site himself, Fink did not know how much of the area burned, but said that a Saugus Fire Engine covered Penney Road in case the fire spread towards those homes. The cause of the fire has not been determined, although the high temperatures and relatively dry weather likely played a part, with winds at the top of the hill spreading the fire around.

Compounding the Fire Department's difficulties in fighting the fire yesterday was a gas leak at EPOCH's senior assisted living home on Green Street, which required back up from a Malden Fire and Wakefield Fire pump trucks. Fink said he did not believe the gas leak required an evacuation of the building because the leak occured outside, when a contractor struck the gas line. National Grid was notified to shut off the line.

One group wasn't affected by yesterday's fire: golfers. Mike O'Brien in the Mount Hood Pro Shop said that all 18 holes remained open on Tuesday and are open on Wednesday.

"You can kind of see it and smell it, but people playing through it," O'Brien said. "It's not affecting play on the course."

During the fire on Tuesday, a golfer on the 16th hole fairway spotted a Melrose Patch reporter holding a camera after taking his swing and joked, "I hope you didn't take a photo of that."

View photos and videos from the fire in our media gallery and click here to see a map showing the hilltop where the fire burned.