Connecticut wildfires have gotten smaller over the past century, but increased drought and more dead and dying trees could pose risks in the coming years. Last year, there were 256 wildfires reported — with a total of 584 acres of land impacted. While state officials say increased regulations and urbanization have brought down the risk […]
Connecticut wildfires have gotten smaller over the past century, but increased drought and more dead and dying trees could pose risks in the coming years.
Last year, there were 256 wildfires reported — with a total of 584 acres of land impacted. While state officials say increased regulations and urbanization have brought down the risk of wildfires, increased tree damage and loss in Connecticut compounds the threat.
“I would say our fires are getting smaller over time,” Chris Martin, the state forester for Connecticut, said. “That’s due to population increase, more fragmentation of the forest.”
Connecticut typically experiences up to three fire seasons: spring, summer and fall.
In the spring, Martin said, dried grasses and leaves from the previous year can spark quick-moving surface fires that often burn out quickly. Later in the year, he said, droughts can produce more complex ground fires, which spread slowly and can even burn roots, peat and other organic materials underground, making it difficult for firefighters to control.
“The influx of dead and dying trees in Connecticut just adds to the fuel load and to the safety, frankly, of firefighters in the woods working in and among dead trees overhead,” Martin said.
In 2024, for example, more than 200 fire starts were recorded in a single 30-day stretch following an exceptionally dry September and October. The largest, the 120-acre Hawthorne Fire in Berlin, burned for several weeks and led to the death of one firefighter.
Last year, meanwhile, saw more overall acres burned in part due to large areas of brush being intentional burned to contain a fire that broke out in a remote area of woods near Haddam, Martin said.
The busiest wildfire season of the last decade was in 2016, when the state experienced an exceptional drought lasting through all three wildfire seasons. Spring droughts also create ideal conditions for infestations of spongy moth, an invasive bug that kills trees.
However, the number of wildfires remains low, even though Connecticut still has high numbers of residents living in forested areas. Known as the wildland urban interface, this metric is often used to gauge wildfire risk.
In the 1900s, 10,000-acre fires were fairly common, Martin said. Trains traveling through the state were the primary source of fires — their wheels throwing sparks.
Regulations have increased since then. Most fires today are human-caused — started by motor vehicle accidents, struck power lines and unattended campfires.
The Eastern region of the U.S., which comprises 20 states, is one of the largest geographic areas measured by the National Interagency Fire Center. The region sees some of the lowest acreage burn despite seeing the second-most wildfires.
