Sunapee extends outdoor burning ban amid high fire danger

Dry air, low humidity and wind kept Sunapee under high fire danger, and town firefighters said all outdoor burning remained prohibited until further notice after they responded to multiple illegal burns on April 26.

Sunapee Fire said the conditions could let even a small flame race into nearby woods, homes and other property. For residents with spring brush cleanup on the calendar, the message was plain: no outside burning is allowed right now, including brush piles and backyard fire pits, and anyone who sees smoke or fire should call 911 immediately.

One of the illegal burns was first spotted and reported by the Mount Cardigan Fire Tower in Orange, where staff helped triangulate the smoke column to an address in Sunapee. When crews arrived, firefighters found an active fire about 50 yards from the address they had been given. The department said the tower observer’s professionalism and vigilance helped stop the blaze from becoming something worse, underscoring how important early detection can be in a rural part of Sullivan County.

The warning also fits a larger spring pattern. Sunapee Fire reported another smoke investigation on March 15 in Sunapee Harbor, where crews found a brush pile burning at a residence on Garnet Street and extinguished it because of current conditions. That earlier call showed the problem was not isolated and that unsafe burning had already been drawing emergency response in town before the latest notice.

State officials have been reinforcing the same message across New Hampshire. The Division of Forests and Lands posts daily fire danger classifications each weekday morning, with weekend classifications posted Friday afternoon, so people can see how likely wildfires are to ignite and how severely they may burn. State wildfire guidance says spring is the beginning of wildfire season in New Hampshire, and Governor Kelly Ayotte joined officials in marking April 21 through April 27 as Wildfire Awareness Week statewide.

State prevention guidance also says about 90% of wildfires in New Hampshire are caused by humans, which is why illegal outside burning can create so much risk and so much extra work for local fire crews. The state describes fire towers as critical to wildfire detection, and the Division of Forests and Lands operates 15 of them statewide. In Sunapee, the warning was immediate: with fire danger still high, the town wants every spark kept off the ground.