Mylar balloons spark brush fire in Jaffrey

As the school year comes to a close, don’t let go of those “congratulations” balloons. A cluster of mylar balloons collided with a power line on Poole Road on Saturday, igniting and starting a brush fire, according to Jaffrey Fire Chief David Chamberlain.

Fire crews responded at about 9:35 a.m. to Poole Road, near the entrance to the Monadnock State Park, after a passersby noticed the fire.

Chamberlain said it appeared the fire was caused when released mylar balloons hit the lines. One of the balloons was a black star with the words “You did it!” printed in silver. The material of mylar balloons is conductive, and the the contact caused electricity to arc, the balloons to catch fire, and the dry leaves and vegetation below the power lines to catch. By the time fire crews arrived on the scene, the fire had spread to about a 50 square foot area. 

“We don’t know when or where they were released,” Chamberlain said, of the balloons. “There is some concern with them.”

Chamberlain said he hasn’t had to respond to any similar instances in Jaffrey in his time on the department, but there have been other incidents nationally over the years of mylar balloons causing fires or power outages when they hit power lines. In this case, he said, the interruption of the power line did cause the lights at one home on Poole Road to flicker, but did not cause any outages. Eversource responded to remove the remnants of the balloons from the line.

“They shouldn’t be released,” Chamberlain said. “Ultimately, they do come down. And they may cause other problems.” Chamberlain said while normal balloons don’t cause the same fire hazard, they also eventually come back down to earth, and become litter, and shouldn’t be released either.

“Obviously balloons are something that is readily accessible, and it’s that time of year,” Chamberlain said. “It’s graduation, the Fourth of July, birthdays. We don’t want to end up with some other situation like this, or causing some other problem.”

Crews were on the scene for about an hour putting out the fire and dousing the area.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter  @AshleySaariMLT.