SAUGUS, MA - The Breakheart Reservation remained closed as of Sunday night nearly two weeks after a series of fires first ignited in the area.
The state Department of Conservation and Recreation shared an update on the status of the closure over the weekend, saying that crews were addressing "safety concerns caused by recent wildfires."
The reservation closed and reopened intermittently in the early days of its recent fires. Officials then opted to completely close the reservation on Aug. 19, extending the closure in increments since then.
Fires in the Breakheart Reservation are some of several fires reported across the state in what has been a brutal summer for local fire personnel.
Scorching least 79 acres in Saugus, the Breakheart fires have locally combined with fires in the Lynn Woods Reservation in Lynn to bathe area communities in smoke across portions of the past two weeks.
The Lynn Woods largely reopened on Friday after crews were able to contain flames there. Several trails through the burned portion of the park remained closed as of Sunday, however.
Statewide, the DCR has banned open flame fires, including vampires and charcoal cookouts, across its properties amid lingering drought conditions. Local municipalities and fire department have echoed fire warnings in the meantime as the region remained parched by what the US Drought Monitor has described as an "extreme drought."
DCR Chief Fire Warden David Celino said last week that fires have been burning deep into dry soil, creating conditions where areas like the Breakheart Reservation and the Lynn Woods may continue to smolder until heavy rains can saturate the area.
Celino previously described fire conditions in a conversation with Patch earlier this month, saying that crews across the state have seen intermittent injuries related to fatigue in lengthy fire responses.
Intensely burned out landscapes have posed their own issues, he added, compromising root systems and damaging tree trunks themselves in ways that leave trees at risk of toppling.
Back at Breakheart, the reservation remains closed to visitors until further notice. The DCR has said it will have further updates when it is safe to reopen the reservation or portions of it.
READ: Large Massachusetts Brush Fires Challenge Firefighters Amid Drought
The article Breakheart Reservation Remains Closed As Crews Address Safety Concerns appeared first on Wakefield Patch.