Officials are worried four brush fires sparked since Saturday are connected to a series of fires set intentionally last spring.
“The thought is the same person or persons that started the fires last spring is at it again,” Derby Fire Marshal Phil Hawks said.
The fire marshal made his comments Monday shortly after firefighters extinguished two fires set along Route 34 in the area of Lake View Terrace and Cullens Hill Road.
Firefighters responded to the call at about 2:50 p.m.
The fires were roughly about 100 feet long and 50 feet wide according to Derby Fire Department Chief Thomas Lenart, Jr.
It took about 60 minutes to put the fires out. Route 34 road was closed until fire units cleared the scene. Traffic was detoured to side roads.
There are no fire hydrants in the area, so Lenart said Derby called a Seymour water tanker truck for assistance.
Monday’s fires are suspicious because they started within a few minutes of each other and were less than a mile apart.
Hawks said Monday’s fire comes after two brush fires on Derby-Milford Road in Orange on Saturday.
Shelton has also seen brush fires recently on Route 110.
The locations match a series of brush fires set in late 2012 and early 2013.
The Valley Indy reported in January that someone set nine brush fires in one day along Route 34 in Derby and Oxford.
Click here to read our story from January.
The video below was shot on Route 34 in Derby on Jan. 7, 2013.
A week later state police revealed the brush fires had started happening in October 2012 and were reported in Derby, Milford, Monroe, Orange, Oxford, Shelton and Stratford.
State police offered a $2,500 reward for information on the arson fires.
Click here to read a previous story.
An intentionally set fire in April burned 5 acres in April — again along Route 34 in the Pink House Cove section, which is generally referred to as between Lake View Terrace and Cullens Hill Road.
Click here to read a story from April.
Hawks said it was not clear what started Monday’s fire in Derby.