On Monday afternoon, March 28th, South Salem firefighters were alerted to a brush fire, possibly involving a tractor, on Red Coat Lane, in Waccabuc. Car 2451 responded followed by 2452, 2453 and Engine 167.
Once on scene, Car 2451 reported an approximately 80'x50' brush fire that had already burned down a shed (that stored the tractor and other yard equipment) and was starting to impinge on the house. The crew from 167 quickly pulled an 1 ¾' hand line and a booster line to protect the house and start extinguishing the lawn tractor and brush fire. Tanker 2 arrived on scene and was directed further down the shared driveway to stop the spread of the brush fire.
Crews spent approximately one hour containing and extinguishing the brush fire and checking for hot spots to make sure it did not start up again.
The fire was sparked by discarded ashes in a compost pile. It had burned for some time (long enough to completely burn down an 8'x8' shed) and had gone unnoticed due to the location on a long shared, private driveway. Luckily a neighbor saw the smoke and alerted the fire department prior to it spreading to the house. In the end the fire had consumed an area of approximately 80' x 150' and reached within ten feet of the house.