A rainy Monday helped a bit, but most of Massachusetts has received significantly less precipitation than usual in the past few months, exacerbating the drought that's stifling almost all of the state.
Between May 25 and Aug. 22, most of Suffolk, Norfolk, Middlesex and Essex counties received between one-quarter and half as much precipitation as they typically did in that stretch over a 30-year period, while central and western Massachusetts saw between 50 and 75% of average precipitation, according to data presented to the Drought Management Task Force on Tuesday. The weather got even drier in the past month, with only between 10 and 25% of the normal precipitation falling in a U-shaped stretch of the state from Worcester to Boston and up to Cape Ann and no more than half the average amount in large sections of the rest of the state.
Most of Massachusetts is in a "critical drought," the second-most severe of five levels, under the latest Aug. 9 designation from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Cape Cod is in a slightly less dramatic "significant drought," while the islands and the westernmost stretch of the state are in a "mild drought."
The drought is causing problems for fire crews, who are responding to wildfires across the state. Typical fire season in New England is the spring, but with the drought worsening from June through now, the dry conditions have extended the fire risk. State and local fire officials are working together to manage multiple fires across the state.
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The dry conditions has also prompted DCR to temporarily ban open flame fires and charcoal grills at all of its properties.
Chief Forest Fire Warden Dave Celino said at a media briefing Tuesday afternoon that the state has seen more than 100 wildfires so far in August, a number that is likely to increase amid ongoing dry conditions. Celino said the latest rain improved the outlook but only slightly.
"It positively affects ignition potential. What it doesn't affect is ground fuel burning that's ongoing," he said.
DCR closed the Breakheart Reservation in Saugus to the public earlier this week through at least Wednesday as a result of the ongoing fire. Officials have said they believe the fires to be suspicious and not the result of a lightning strike or other natural phenomenon. On Wednesday Saugus Fire Chief Thomas D'Eon would only see there was an "active investigation" into the cause.
Celino said that in the last seven days, fire crews across the state have responded to 38 wildfires across 188 acres. The most burned at the Breakheart Reservation and the Lynn Woods Reservation. Year to date, there have been 849 fires affecting 1,440 acres.
Drought conditions are so bad that these wildfires are actually burning underground, which Celino said makes them a "challenging extended operation" for fire crews. Right now the goal is to contain the fires to prevent them from threatening property or public safety, but it is very difficult to entirely extinguish them. Contained fires will still give off smoke and can burn very hot in the center, Celino said.
"This is probably the one drought year when we’ve had the most fire activity that we’ve seen,” Celino said, noting that there have been significant droughts in other recent years - 2016, 2018 and 2020.
To help manage the danger, officials are asking to public to take "common-sense" measures, including to carefully extinguish any open flames and dispose of any hot charcoal or smoking materials. Power equipment and vehicles, MEMA officials warned, can get very hot and cause dry grass to catch fire.
Residents are also asked to pay attention to water bans in their town or city
