Firefighter Killed Responding to Connecticut State Park Fire

A Connecticut firefighter was killed while battling a massive brush fire at Lamentation Mountain in Berlin.

Governor Ned Lamont ordered flags lowered to half-staff in honor of Robert Sharkevich Sr., a member of the Wethersfield Volunteer Fire Department and former member of the Hartford Fire Department, who died in the line of duty. Sharkevich was killed and two others injured when an all-terrain vehicle rolled over.

Fire officials said the fire started early Monday morning and they have been battling the blaze nonstop to keep it from spreading. The fire affected almost 90 acres before they managed to contain it, according to Lamont.

Lamont activated the National Guard. The firefighters have received help from a crew from Maine using helicopters to drop water to limit any further expansion and keep the area safe.

Lamentation Mountain is a small state park on the westerly slope of the mountain near Berlin / Meriden town line.

The state remains at “very high” risk of forest fires today due to dry conditions, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The risk in Litchfield, Hartford, Tolland, Fairfield areas is rated “extreme.”

Topics Connecticut