NORTH ANDOVER — Even though firefighters began “demobilizing” last Thursday after a forest fire off Sharpners Pond Road was largely reduced to ash, crews were called again to a blaze in the area Sunday night.
Fire officials said crews were back at work Monday morning in the Boxford State Forest, which lies on the border of Boxford, Middleton and North Andover. Firefighters from all three towns joined in the effort on Monday.
A separate wildfire also sprung up in Methuen on Monday.
In the recent weeks, forest fires have burned throughout the state, including in the Merrimack Valley, and destroyed hundreds of acres of woodlands, marshes and fields. The wildfires continue to burn as the region, and state, experiences a critical drought, with some locations receiving the lowest rainfall ever recorded, according to the state officials.
The Middleton Fire Department confirmed the new fire in the Boxford State Forest is separate from the area that’s been burning off and on over the last three weeks.
At around 3 p.m. Monday North Andover firefighters were still at the scene and little information was available on the specifics of the new blaze.
Methuen crews responded to a “widespread” brush fire in the Dale Street area of Methuen. As of around 2 p.m. Monday the fire was “ongoing.” Dale Street is wedged between Riverside Drive and the Merrimack River. According to the Methuen Fire Department, multiple engines, rescue and utility vehicles responded to the scene.
North Andover officials warned the community of the returned fires and to expect smoke.
The Boxford State Forest remained closed.
A fire ban was still in effect in the area and residents were asked not to burn, light fire pits or use charcoal grills.
The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services has urged the community to follow fire safety guidelines.
“Please remember that almost all of the 500-plus wildfires in Massachusetts over the past several weeks started with human activity,” the department announced on social media Friday.
Officials said the wildfires such as the one fought in North Andover last week “are extremely labor-intensive” for first responders.
“They put people and property in danger, and they are straining municipal resources like never before,” wrote the state.
Despite the fires and warnings of smoke in the air, the air quality in the Merrimack Valley remained largely good Monday, with poorer conditions reported in Salem, according to data from the federal Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program.