Official: Up to 8 Stratford brush fires may be arson

STRATFORD — The fire marshal's office is investigating at least eight recent brush fires along roadways that may have been intentionally set in the past two weeks.

“They are suspicious, and they are under an active investigation,” Fire Marshal Robert Daniel said Thursday.

On April 28 alone, firefighters responded to four brush fires, Daniel said, all within a span of 15 to 20 minutes. All of the fires occurred within the same half-mile radius.

“The timing is just very suspect — the timing of the fires, the distance between the fires, raises a lot of red flags,” he said.

All of the fires were started in the mix of dry leaves and brush along River Road and the Merritt

Parkway.

“They seem to be happening in numbers of two, so two at a time,” Daniel added.

Two of the April 28 fires began on the northbound side of River Road around 300 yards from each other. As crews extinguished those fires, the two other brush fires were reported on the Merritt about a quarter mile apart. Heavy wind caused one of those fires to jump across the Merritt, causing it to burn a significant area and damaging a garage. A firefighter was also injured after a falling tree limb struck him in the neck and shoulders, sending him to the hospital for observation, Daniel said.

“He had bumps and bruises, he was later released in the evening,” he added.

Days later, two more fires occurred on the same stretch of River Road on May 1.

“They were almost directly across from the previous two on the 28th,” Daniel said. “Two fires at the exact same time, and they were separated by well over a quarter-mile.”

Two other fires occurred Wednesday in an almost identical spot as the fires that ignited on May 1.

“It appears they're being intentionally set. The reason behind it, I cannot fathom to guess right now,” Daniel said.

The scrutiny of the fires in Stratford comes amid investigations into two large brush fires in Middletown this week. The first blaze, a massive fire that covered more than 150 acres and drew more than 100 firefighters, is believed to have been started after a tree struck a power line, igniting the brush. But a second fire that started some distance away on Tuesday night is still considered suspicious, and authorities have not yet fully ruled out the idea it may have been intentionally set.

Daniel said he couldn't comment on events in Middletown, and Middletown South Fire District Chief James Trzaski said he hadn't heard about the fires in Stratford.

“But we have had a couple fires here in Middletown, we had one off of Reservoir Road — a little bit deep-seated into the woods — a couple weeks ago,” Trzaski said. “So our fire marshal's office, along with the Middletown Police Department are monitoring this closely and we're keeping track of all outside fires here in our district.”

Daniel said the string of fires resembles similar incidents from six or seven years ago.

He asked anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in the area of the fires on those dates to contact the fire marshal's office.