Firefighters battling a brush fire near the Appalachian Trail in western Connecticut were this week dealing with another threat — rattlesnakes.
The blaze burned about 80 hectares of rugged terrain in an area known as Schaghticoke Mountain in Kent from Wednesday to Friday afternoon, when it was brought under control, authorities said.
Kent Volunteer fire chief Alan Gawel said the fire disturbed dens of the timber rattlers and more than a dozen snakes were spotted fleeing the heat, including one that slithered between the legs of a firefighter on Thursday.
“As you are trying to create a fire line in the rocks, boom: There’s a snake,” he said. “It’s a real battle, not to mention what it does to your nerves.”
Several dozen firefighters from 17 departments helped battle the fire and no one had been bitten, but authorities have alerted hospitals to make sure they have a supply of anti-venom.
Because this was a wilderness fire, firefighters were not wearing typical heavy turnout gear and had no protection from snake strikes, Gawel said.
Dennis Schain, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said that while there is a large population of snakes in the area, they typically steer clear of people and would only pose a danger if stepped on or made to feel threatened.
“They’ve been in these pockets of Connecticut for a long time and hardly anybody ever sees them,” he said.
He said once the fire is out, state wildlife experts would go in looking to rescue any injured snakes, which would be taken to the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island to be rehabilitated.
Schain said the fire should not pose any permanent threat to the snake population in the area.
Connecticut is home to just two venomous types of snakes, the timber rattlesnake and the copperhead.
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