The Department of Fire Services is urging residents to listen to local authorities and refrain from starting any outdoor fires.
State fire officials now say 175 wildfires continue to burn across Massachusetts as of Saturday evening, threatening land and homes in towns across the Commonwealth.
So far, the fires have burned more than 568 acres of land, Department of Fire Services spokesperson Jake Wark said in an email Sunday evening. According to Wark, 36 of those fires were reported in the last 24 hours.
Fires in North Andover, Northbridge, Northfield, Northampton, and Pittsfield damaged houses and structures in the past week, Wark said. Local authorities banned outdoor fires due to “grave fire danger,” he told Boston.com.
He also said that two firefighters were “seriously” injured battling a fire last week after a large limb fell on them.
“Fires burning six inches, a foot, or even more underground can be extremely difficult to extinguish or contain because they will continue to ignite falling leaves and allow fire to escape the perimeter,” Wark said in the email. “Dead and burning trees already pose a serious hazard to firefighters because they can fall over without warning, but a burned-out root system makes this even more likely.”