VIDEO: Large brush/forest fire in Sandwich… 15 acres… multiple alarms… ongoing… [UPDATED]
REPORT:
SUNDAY UPDATE – 12:40PM – Over 17 hours after the first alarm, firefighters are still in the woods of Sandwich fighting this fire. Last evening the fire went to 4 alarms. Today the fire again flared up, which again caused at least two alarms. Firefighters have a plane flying overhead reporting back valuable aerial information regarding the extent of the burning and the location of the flanks of the fire line.
SANDWICH – Firefighters from across the region were battling a large brush fire in a vast wooded area near Popple Bottom Road and Pinkham Road.
At about 7pm, large brush breakers began to respond from Sandwich, Mashpee, Cotuit… and many other departments across the region…
The fire was said to have consumed about 15 acres of woodlands at the time of this report.
Firefighters were working hard for hours, trying to cut away brush and trees in order to make way for their brush breakers…
HN NOTE: At one point the HN truck became boxed in on a secluded ancient way while trying to reach the scene of the fire line. I was not near the fire at that point, but had to move logs and brush to continue on. At one point, a local family unlocked a gate which allowed HN to sneak in the back way! (Thank you!)
The fire line was relatively close to homes, but fire fighters maintained a heavy presence in the area and there was no wind at the time, which helped to keep the fire from spreading faster.
At one point fire officials were talking about evacuating residents, but that turned out to be unnecessary.
Had there been any wind, the situation would have been much different.
By about 11pm, firefighters were winding down operations. The fire was not completely out… and not completely “contained,” but due to weather conditions, no wind, fog, etc., firefighters felt confident the fire was under control.
There were reports of fire officials monitoring the area later in the evening.
The following HN footage is right from the fire line.
[Press play]
This second video shows the command area…
EARLIER FOOTAGE – This third video shows firefighters from across the region teaming up near the power lines in Sandwich to begin hunting down the flames…
Photo from Massachusetts Forest Fire Control District 1 Cape Cod & Islands twitter page.
5/9/2015
Robert Bastille,












