A fire pit that reportedly sparked a brush fire in the area of Poverty Hollow Road required the efforts of all five of Newtown’s fire companies to bring it under control and extinguish it. Dodgingtown Fire Chief Steve Murphy said the blaze, which started at roughly 3:30 pm December 3, took roughly two hours to put out.

“It was dry and windy and they probably shouldn’t have been doing that,” said Murphy.

Embers from the fire pit caught nearby leaves and brush, Murphy said. The fire, at a home on a hill near Poverty Hollow Farm, “took off behind the house, up the hill and over, because that’s the way the wind was blowing.”

“This was a fire that was careless or accidental, not intentional,” said Fire Marshal David Ober. “But it shouldn’t have been lit in the first place.”

Murphy said that the departments had to find “longer driveways” along the road to get to the sides of the fire to contain it. A particularly long driveway off Arthur’s Court was used, as well as another that was used to finally get above the fire.

All five companies were involved, stopping the damage at roughly two to two and half acres of forested, rocky terrain. According to Ober, some companies lent manpower to the effort, others equipment. There were no hydrants in the area so a tanker truck had to be called in.

“Everyone worked well together,” said Murphy. “This was a group effort and we took care of it. We got different people in different areas to put it out.”

Reporter Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.