Several dozen firefighters from eight volunteer fire companies mobilized midday on Wednesday, November 5, in response to an extensive brush fire of suspicious origin in Sandy Hook, which spread across about five acres of rugged terrain, blackening the forest floor near Sugarloaf Road and Sherman Street.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company Chief Bill Halstead, who was incident commander, said the fire, which was reported at about 11:30 am, apparently had been burning “for a couple of hours” before people nearby realized that a brush fire was underway, rather than someone burning leaves to dispose of them.

There were no injuries among firefighters who responded to the call. No structures were damaged in the incident.

Chief Halstead termed the blaze a “suspicious fire” that may have been intentionally set by someone. No point or points of origin of the fire have been found, he said.

Also, such a fire may have been the result of a campfire that got out of control or have been caused by sparking from a motorized vehicle traveling through the woods.

The fire chief said he would be talking with people in the area to learn whether they saw any suspicious activity occurring Wednesday morning. He said he plans to confer with police on the incident.

Firefighters staged their equipment near 18 Sugarloaf Road and near 6 Sherman Street to fight the blaze.

Chief Halstead estimated that firefighters used about 22,000 gallons of water to put out the fire. Water was shuttled to the scene, as needed, from a hydrant positioned near the Sandy Hook firehouse on Riverside Road.

Sandy Hook, Hook & Ladder, Botsford, Hawleyville, Dodgingtown, Southbury, Stevenson, and Monroe firefighters mobilized for the blaze, with those fire companies’ members either responding the scene or staffing local fire stations on standby or back-up basis. Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps stood by at the fire in the event of injuries.

Overall, about 40 people were involved in the response to the incident, which lasted several hours.

Also, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) sent staff to the scene to aid in the fire response.

Firefighters employed vehicles including five water tanker trucks, four pumper trucks, three brush fire trucks, and two all-terrain vehicles.

They positioned the tanker trucks and pumpers near the fire’s edge. Fire hoses extended from the vehicles to provide firefighters in the forest with water to put out the spreading blaze.

Some firefighters used portable water tanks mounted on their backs while traversing the difficult terrain to put out the blaze.

Recent high winds had caused millions of leaves to fall from broadleaf trees, creating a thick blanket of leaves on the forest floor which then dried out, providing fuel for the brush fire which traveled up and down slopes as breezes blew through the Sugarloaf Road-Sherman Street area.