(NECN: Scot Young, Sudbury, Mass.) - The burn season in Massachusetts starts on January 15 and runs until May 1.
Dry, winter air combined with higher winds makes for an escalated risk of fires across the state.
But the state's fire towers, more than 40 in total, keep an eye out for flames before things can escalate.
The system has been in place since the 1880's and remains the state's fire line of defense against fire.
Yesterday, that proved valuable as a fire in Saugus was stopped after spreading to only one home.
"Towers helped the fire departments to get early detection and get on those fires before they start to grow rapidly," said Dave Celino, the state's fire warden. "I think if we didn't have early detection yesterday, we would have had a number of fires that would've probably grown in that 10-plus or 15-plus acre range."
On Sunday, Massachusetts was ranked at a fire danger of Class 4, out of a 5-Class system.
