Brush fire in February? Unreal, firefighters say

A brush fire along the Neponset River this early in the year may not bode well for other fire-prone expanses across the area.

"I am not a meteorologist but I would think the lack of snow cannot be good for the water supply or our landscape," Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said this morning. "At the fire last night, the firefighters were commenting on how unreal it was to be fighting a brush fire in February. As you can see for some of the photos I took last night, the reeds are high. Usually snow would have compacted them until at least the spring."

MacDonald said the location of last night's brush fire, next to the Neponset between Granite Avenue and Dorchester Lower Mills is one of the areas in Boston prone to brush fires. Stony Brook Reservation where Hyde Park, Roslindale and West Roxbury meet, is another potential fire spot, as is the land along the Muddy River and the Fens.