The burning of debris in a Sandy Hook back yard — on a day when local, state and federal officials all announced red flag/high fire potentials — eventually burned 15 acres Tuesday afternoon and evening.

Approximately 75 firefighters responded to Walnut Tree Hill Road and a few adjacent streets on April 11 after multiple calls to Newtown Emergency Communications Center began reporting heavy smoke in the area. Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Chief Anthony Capozziello said the initial dispatch at 3:58 pm was for a brush fire at 130 Walnut Tree Hill Road.

“That’s where I initially headed, and as I was approaching that property I could see smoke up on the ridge and I knew the old railroad bed was up there,” Capozziello said April 12.

“When I got to the home at 130 Walnut Tree Hill, I found the resident there trying to extinguish a debris fire with a garden hose but it had already extended well along the ridge,” he continued.

Capozziello said he acted quickly.

With Newtown Hook & Ladder already part of the call in Sandy Hook’s district, he called for manpower and apparatus from the three additional in-town companies — Botsford, Dodgingtown and Hawleyville — along with a wider net of mutual aid including Bethel, Southbury, Stevenson, and Stony Hill.

Capozziello then went to the Algonquin pipeline station east of the initial location, where he gained access to land along the Algonquin pipeline and former railroad bed. The fire was spreading through the woods near the pipeline, but did not threaten the pipeline directly, he said.

Nonetheless, Algonquin sent a representative to the scene.

Capozziello also served as incident command, as the command post for Tuesday’s fire was set up adjacent to the pipeline entrance along Walnut Tree Hill Road. He credited Fairfield County and Litchfield County Fire Coordinators for a lot of assistance.

“They came in and added Bethel and Monroe, and a lot of other people,” he said. “They were the ones who helped me know who had what equipment. They assisted with the command and accountability. Having that resource was invaluable.”

Bernie Meehan, a Danbury Fire chief and lead of Litchfield County Fire Coordinators, was among those to respond to the call. The list of mutual aid, he said, grew to include 15 responding companies sending manpower and forestry vehicles to the scene. Fairfield County Fire Coordinators Chief Ed Bruey also led response efforts.

The response included not only those going into the woods or running tankers — Bethel, Brookfield, Middlebury, Roxbury, Stevenson, Stony Hill, and Woodbury among them — but also those who offered standby for in-town fire companies.

Additional companies provided station coverage not only across Newtown but also the neighboring towns who had sent their volunteers to Sandy Hook.

“New Milford covered Brookfield, Redding covered Bethel, and Prospect went to Southbury,” Meehan said Wednesday morning, ticking off just a few of the regional companies called on.

Newtown Public Works had a crew set up road closures, and Sandy Hook’s Ladies Auxiliary made a few trips into the area with bottled water and other supplies.

At the request of Capozziello, Newtown Police Department used its drone to find hotspots from the air.

CT DEEP, reportedly already contending with several other fires across the state, sent at least one member of its forestry division to the scene.

“It was,” Chief Capozziello said Wednesday morning, “a massive effort.”

Spreading To Crows Nest

Firefighters began hearing from homeowners on Crows Nest Lane — south of the starting point of the fire — that they too were seeing smoke and approaching flames. The closest home on that road is approximately 250 yards of the Walnut Tree Hill Road property where Tuesday’s fire began.

For firefighters, it didn’t make sense to try to run fully through the forest to get ahead of the fire from Walnut Tree Hill Road. Instead, Newtown Hook & Ladder Chief Chris Ward went to the northern point of Crows Nest, where he set up and led a secondary command station.

In addition to those heading in from the north off Walnut Tree Hill Road, firefighters began going into the woods from Crows Nest, approaching the fire from the south.

Between the two locations, Capozziello said first responders were able to quickly circle the fire.

“Once they were able to get around it, they created a perimeter and started knocking the fire down,” he said.

Walnut Tree Hill was eventually closed between its intersections with Shady Rest Boulevard and Black Bridge Road.

Multiple Challenges

Firefighters faced multiple challenges Tuesday afternoon. Capozziello and Meehan both cited the terrain above everything else.

“It was a very hilly terrain,” Capozziello said. “A lot of that area had also been hit hard during the May 2018 tornado, so there were a lot of trees down.”

The felled trees made it additionally difficult, he said, for firefighters to drag water lines in the woods. Firefighters cut a lot of trees to make passage easier. They also cut and moved trees to create passage while fighting the fire.

Further, the hundreds of trees on the ground for five years, he said, has been turning into rotting wood.

“That’s another accelerator for the fire,” the Sandy Hook chief said.

Winds on Tuesday literally added more fuel to the fire.

Firefighters used a lot of forestry tools on Tuesday, everything from backpack fire pumps, rakes and shovels to chain saws and backpack blowers.

One-inch wide forestry hose was the “essential” tool, however, he said. An estimated 50,000 gallons of water was used.

The topography caused some communications challenges, both men said, and cell phone and radio service was spotty.

Capozziello credited the town's dispatchers for their work on Tuesday.

"It was a challenge for them to keep in touch with everyone," he said.

Meehan noted another obstacle for the volunteers.

“Even the median age of many of these guys,” Meehan said, “is another challenge. Many of us are not young anymore, but we’re out there in the woods and on other calls doing what we can.”

Capozziello said brush fires are always difficult.

“Brush fires are challenging because of the amount of ground that’s burning,” he explained. “With a structure fire, you can see what’s burning right in front of you. With brush fires, you need multiple officers who can tell you what’s going on out there."

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps had a crew staging near the Walnut Tree Hill command post, and Roxbury EMS set up at Crows Nest. There were no injuries reported on Tuesday.

“That’s impressive,” Capozziello said. “With the amount of people there and that rough terrain, nothing happened.”

The final first responders cleared from the brush fire around 8:20 pm Tuesday.

Rekindles

Sandy Hook was sent back out to the area of 130 Walnut Tree Hill Road a few hours later, after a nearby homeowner reported smoke inside her home and ash in the front yard.

As he approached the area, Capozziello again reported fire in the woods. Newtown’s four additional fire companies and Southbury were again dispatched for the second call of the day.

Capozziello returned to the location used earlier as his command post, Ward returned to lead the Crows Nest location, and the additional companies responded with manpower and equipment.

It took another 2½ hours and 10,000 gallons of water to fully drown the rekindled areas. Firefighters were on scene this time until nearly 12:30 Wednesday morning.

Late Wednesday afternoon, firefighters from Sandy Hook, Hook & Ladder and Botsford were again dispatched to the same area. Heading back into the woods, it took two hours to locate and douse hotspots near Crows Nest and Farm Field Ridge Road properties.

Sandy Hook and Hook & Ladder were again dispatched around 5:30 Wednesday afternoon, after a caller reported heavy smoke in the same area as the previous day.

Chief Capozziello returned to his previous command post near the Algonquin pipeline station and Chief Ward returned to the Crows Nest area.

Botsford was also added to the call.

With firefighters — this time including both chiefs — heading back into the woods, it took two hours to locate and douse hotspots.

Firefighters returned to service at 7:38 pm.

Capozziello had nothing but praise for the efforts of all first responders this week.

“We had all five Newtown fire companies and so many from around the area, and everybody worked great together,” he said. “Everyone knew their job and worked hard. I can’t thank everyone enough for all of this.”

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.