10 fire departments responded to the fire
KILLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — An unpermitted brush fire that got out of control sparked a two-day forest fire in steep terrain in Killington over the weekend, the fire chief said.
New owners of the land had been camping on it and burning brush to clean up the property when the fire got out of control, Killington Fire Chief Gary Roth told the Rutland Herald on Monday.
More than 80 firefighters from at least 10 departments responded to South Hill on Saturday. The terrain was very challenging, fire officials said.
“It’s hard enough to walk on that, let alone cut a fire line,” Town Fire Marshall Tom Rock said of the slope. “It was extremely hard work to hike up that side of the mountain over and over again.”
The fire department called in as many ATVs and UTVs it could get from other departments, said Roth.
The area damaged was estimated to be between 50 and 240 acres. State and local officials had warned about the risk of brush fires because of the dry conditions.
“It took the entire county’s help to put this fire out. … This is what happens when people are careless and don’t ask for permits,” Roth said.
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