Stranded fishermen blamed for Quabbin fire

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

PELHAM - One of the three men who allegedly started a forest fire Tuesday afternoon after their rented fishing boat flipped over at Quabbin Reservoir failed to show up for an interview with state police Wednesday.

The interview, state police Lt. Kevin Hanna said, was scheduled for 4 p.m. and was meant to help with the investigation into how the fire started, but the man, whom Hanna declined to name, never arrived at the station. The fire burned approximately an acre of forest.

Hanna said the men had to swim for shore Tuesday afternoon when their boat flipped over. After retrieving the boat and beaching it in a remote location near the Belchertown line, the men set off on foot for their car, which Hanna said was parked at a popular boat launch called Gate 8 along Packardville Road.

Along the way, Hanna said, the men started a small fire to warm themselves from their chilly swim to shore. But they reportedly left the fire burning and hiked to their car, Hanna said, where they reported the incident to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. A DCR park ranger was sent to retrieve their abandoned boat.

At about 5 p.m., Hanna said the ranger noticed a large plume of smoke rising from the hills nearby and called for support from both the Pelham and Belchertown fire departments.

Because of the fire's remote location and the steep and rocky terrain, Hanna said about a dozen firefighters were ferried across the reservoir in two state police patrol boats.

"We had to bring them out to the area and then they had to climb up the side of this steep hilltop with water on their backs," Hanna said. "When they arrived they found the fire hadn't spread as much as they thought it would."

Fortunately, Hanna said, mild weather kept the fire from spreading quickly and by the time it was extinguished, only about an acre of the forest had burned.

"If we had the same windy conditions that we had a couple of days ago, or even last week, this fire could have really taken off," Hanna said.

Hanna said all three men had left before state police arrived on the scene. State police are still investigating the incident.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.