Smoke hanging over Boston as North Shore wildfire blazes

BOSTON — Many in the Greater Boston area woke up smelling smoke Monday morning.

The cloud hanging over the area is coming largely from a major brush fire to the north between Lynn and Salem, National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Loconto said.

“You smell that smokey smell as you step outside in the Boston area, and we can even smell it down here at the Weather Service office in Norton too,” said Loconto. “And it’s because the winds are just light out of the north, and that’s just enough where it’ll tilt that smoke into the city and areas immediately downwind.”

The North Shore fire started in woods near a Walmart in Salem on Saturday, one of many fires burning around the area as dry and windy Massachusetts conditions pose a high fire risk for the area. The fire grew to 130 acres across the Salem and Lynn areas on Monday, WCVB reported.

There are several dozen active brush fires reported statewide as of Monday morning, including other large fires in Canton, Holden and Middleton/North Reading, according to a Department Fire Service spokesperson.

“We’re seeing preventable fires growing to dangerous sizes and drawing numerous resources, locally and regionally,” said DFS spokesperson Jake Wark, warning residents that open fames are prohibited this time of year and to be careful with outdoor cooking, lawnmowers, cigarette butts and other fire hazards.

Cambridge Police said they responded to multiple “odor of smoke” calls Monday morning in an X post around 6 a.m., assuring residents the smell originated from the brush fire to the north.

Loconto said typical wildfire season for Massachusetts occurs in the spring.

“This is a little bit abnormal for this time of year, and it’s just because the ground is just so dry, so that’s favoring development of wildfires,” said Loconto. “We just have not had any significant rainfall, so that’s contributing to it.”

The smoke smell around Greater Boston is expected to remain throughout the day, Loconto said, but become less potent toward the afternoon.

“The ground will heat up, and that’ll help to help to disperse the smoke a little bit, at least keep it from being on the ground,” Loconto said. “But the next few hours here folks outside can still smell a pretty good whiff of smoke, and that’s from those fires burning there in northeastern Massachusetts.”

--------