Someone started four small brush fires along Route 34 in Oxford and Seymour Thursday afternoon.
Scott Pelletier, the Town of Oxford’s veteran fire chief and fire marshal, said there were two fires near the Stevenson Dam.
The fires appear to be the latest in a long line of intentionally set roadside brush fires that have been plaguing Derby, Shelton, Seymour and Oxford in recent years.
There were also two brush fires in Seymour Thursday, one of which was in the area of the former Actor’s Colony on Route 34 (Roosevelt Drive).
The fires were reported about 1:30 p.m.
“It’s just too coincidental that they are all coming in at the same time,” Pelletier said.
An ignition source in the Oxford brush fires could not be determined Thursday.
“It’s part of an ongoing investigation going back a year and a half, after all the ones we were having last year,” Pelletier said.
The brush fires in the area are usually grouped along major roads such as Route 34 along the Housatonic River or across the river in Shelton on Route 110. Several fires have also been set along Derby-Milford Road on the border of those two communities.
The brush fires stretch back to October 2012, according to state police.
State police offered a $2,500 reward in 2013 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Information can be relayed to the Connecticut Arson Tip Hotline at 800 – 842-7766.
A brush fire in April 2013 burned five acres along Roosevelt Drive in Derby.
Nine brush fires were set along Route 34 a few minutes apart in Derby and Oxford in January 2013.
Pelletier said area fire officials and the state fire marshal’s office will most likely meet in the coming weeks to discuss the crimes.
“We have to develop some leads. We’ve been meeting on and off, but we didn’t meet as a group over the winter because everything had stopped, but it seems to be happening again,” he said.
Pelletier urged motorists to keep an eye out and to call 911 immediately if they see anything suspicious. Try to get details such as a vehicle make, model and color, along with the license plate.
“Residents in the area should stay vigilant. If they see something suspicious, notify the authorities,” Pelletier said.
