Crews fight a large brush fire in Massachusetts

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — A woman died in an outdoor fire at an encampment in Millbury on Saturday night and crews on Sunday were still fighting a large overnight brush fire in Salem as dry and windy conditions have raised the risk of wildfires in southern New England.

When state police responded to the small brush fire in Millbury around 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, the trooper found the woman dead in the encampment where the fire was thought to have started. The fire was put out and the cause and origin is under investigation, police said. They noted that Massachusetts was under a red flag warning on Saturday, meaning that any outdoor fire could spread quickly and be hard to extinguish.

Another fire started on Saturday evening in the woods near a Walmart store in Salem. Flames were visible and smoke had engulfed the area. The fire chief estimated that 40 to 60 acres of forest had burned, according to Boston25News. The fire was under control by early Sunday, and crews were tending to hotspots as winds were expected to pick up later in the day.

There were no reports of injuries or evacuations.

A red flag warning was in place for southern New Hampshire on Sunday, where several brush fires broke out the day before. The National Weather Service warned that the combination of dryness and winds gusting up to 35 mph (56 kilometers per hour) was expected to create critical fire weather conditions leading to the potential for rapid fire growth among dead and dry vegetation.

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