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Brush Fire Danger Very High In Mass.

BOSTON (CBS) - The state fire warden has rated the brush fire danger as "very high." The lack of rain has left a flammable mix of dry leaves and twigs on the ground, that has firefighters busy across the state. As of Thursday, there have been about 700 brush fires so far this year in Massachusetts. More than 500 acres are left charred.

"All it would take is for one little spark just to sit in there, and a little bit of wind to blow it around, and this fire would really take off," said District Warden Tom Muise, as he crunched a handful of leaves at the scene of a brush fire in Quincy Wednesday.

Because of the dry conditions this week, the warden has at least 22 fire towers manned. The only thing that will help at this point, is a sustained soaking rain. "At least an inch or inch-and-a-half of rain for a 24-48-hour period to give the fuels, the leaves, the twigs and all the wooded areas a very good soaking," said Muise.

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