Burn barrel sparks brush fire

A controlled fire in a burn barrel sparked a brush fire Monday in Earl Township.

Crews were dispatched about 5:30 p.m. to the scene of the blaze in the first block of Park Road.

As soon as Chief William Campfield of the Earl Township Volunteer Fire Company arrived, he could see what had happened, he said.

“People should be aware that on a day with low humidity, a slight breeze and a lot of leaf litter, even a spark can start an uncontrollable fire,” he said.

Crews had the brush fire under control in about 10 minutes, Campfield said, but not before it spread up a slope, damaging about a quarter acre of woodland.

The steep and rocky terrain made dragging the hoses to the flames more difficult, he said.

The Earl firefighters were assisted by crews from Oley and Exeter townships.

“We rely on our neighboring fire departments to get these things under control as quickly as possible,” he said.

Campfield said most of the brush fires he sees are caused when open burning gets out of control. Although Monday’s blaze started in a barrel and not with an open burn, the weather conditions were a contributing factor.

A majority of Earl’s calls in the past week have been for wire, tree and brush fires, he said. However, the township has not put a burn ban into effect and burning in Earl is legal, he said.

Campfield urged caution and recommended using a barrel to help control any burning. He also advised those who chose to burn to remove any leaf litter and other debris such as sticks from around the bottom of the barrel and to not leave any fires unattended.