By Beacon Staff
The visible trail of smoke wafting Saturday evening from Mosquito Park in Burlington wasn’t as serious as it may have looked.
The Burlington Fire Department made sure of that.
Firefighters responded to the tiny park at 7:43 p.m. Saturday (June 13), where they discovered a small blaze consuming dead leaves and vegetation.
The initial call to the fire department cited fireworks as a possible cause, and fireworks residue was discovered on the scene. There wasn’t enough evidence to name an official cause, however, fireworks are considered the likely cause.
Firefighters deployed a booster line to extinguish the fire, clearing the scene 10 minutes after they arrived. A booster line is a rubber-covered, thick-walled, flexible hose used to fight small fires. It retains its round cross-section when it is not under pressure and is usually carried on a reel on the fire truck, rather than being stored flat.
Mosquito Park, located on the corner of Third and Franklin streets, sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River.
Burlington Police fielded nine fireworks calls between 7:43 p.m. and 11:22 p.m. Saturday, but no other fires were reported.
Burlington city ordinance prohibits exploding those fireworks within city limits, though they are legal to purchase.