There's a fire burning in the marsh south of Forked Island, but firefighters can't get to it.
Fire Chief Anthony Langlinais of Fire District 13 says his firefighters are monitoring the fire and hoping it will burn itself out soon. The fire isn't near any homes; it's the smoke that's a problem, Langlinais said.
"At night it's just horrible," he says. "If you're on the highway, you have to slow down to 10 miles an hour."
Langlinais said the humidity at night and in the early morning brings the smoke closer to the ground, and causes problems for folks with allergies, breathing issues and asthma.
He says officials don't know who started the fire, or how it started, but if anyone has information on that he'd like them to call the station with the information.
State Fire Marshal officials are coming tomorrow to use a drone to try to nail down the location of the actual fire, and to determine if it is burning above or below ground, he said. The State Fire Marshal doesn't fight fires; they investigate structure fires at the invitation of local agencies. Other state agencies investigate wildfires, including the state Agriculture and Forestry department.
"Right now, we can't get to it. It's miles away. It's been burning since Tuesday," he said.
The suspected source of the fire isn't accessible to fire department equipment, he added.
"There's no water in the marsh," he said. "We can't get to the fire, and we can't extinguish smoke."
That doesn't mean you can't call the fire department, he said.
"We're monitoring it, we're watching it. But if you're scared, call the fire department," he said.
This is an example of why the state-wide burn ban is still in place - despite a couple rain storms in the past couple weeks.
"The marsh is so dry," he said. "People need to understand, this is exactly why we have a burn ban."
Langlinais said he has farm land he'd like to be getting ready. But when the land is so dry, a fire can get out of control quickly and then you can't determine where it stops.
"It happens quick," he said.
