{"id":16143,"date":"2020-04-25T09:11:06","date_gmt":"2020-04-25T13:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=16143"},"modified":"2020-04-26T17:37:01","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T21:37:01","slug":"pine-banks-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2020\/04\/25\/pine-banks-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Brush Fire Scorches Woods Atop Pine Banks Park, Melrose"},"content":{"rendered":"

The top of Mt. Ephraim\u2014at 208 feet the tallest point of Pine Banks Park in Melrose\u2014was recently left charred by a brush fire. Even days later the area, with its view across Malden and Everett to the Boston skyline, smelled of the burn.<\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0To encourage social distancing to stem the spread of coronavirus, since March 21, parking areas, fields and the playground at the park have been closed<\/a>. But the park remains open to walkers to explore the woods and ponds.<\/em><\/p>\n

The park encompasses more than 100 acres just off Main Street, between Forestdale Cemetery in Malden and Wyoming Cemetery in Melrose, straddling the border between the two communities. The land was donated to Malden and Melrose by Elisha Converse, of Converse shoe, rubber and banking family, who served as the first mayor of Malden from 1881 to 1893.<\/p>\n

Converse had parkways, picnic areas and playing fields constructed and ornamental trees planted, Mark Primack wrote in his 1983 book “Greater Boston Park and Recreation Guide.” The park became popular for outings and Christian revival meetings. Later, during World War II, an anti-aircraft gun was installed atop one of the hills, Primack wrote. But it has long since returned to peaceful recreation.<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/a>
Map of Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden (click on map to enlarge).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Scorched<\/a>
Scorched trees at Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"After<\/a>
After a brush fire at Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Scorched<\/a>
Scorched birches at Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Scorched<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Scorched<\/a>
Scorched trees at Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"After<\/a>
After a brush fire at Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The edge of the burn at Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View from the top of Pine Banks Park into Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View from the top of Pine Banks Park across Forest Dale Cemetery in Malden to Boston, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View from the top of Pine Banks Park across Forest Dale Cemetery in Malden to Boston, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Unmarked<\/a>
Unmarked cross on hillside at Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Unmarked<\/a>
Unmarked cross on hillside at Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Swampy<\/a>
Swampy area at Pine Banks Park in Melrose and Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Border<\/a>
Border wall between Pine Banks Park and Forest Dale Cemetery, Malden, April 20, 2020. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The top of Mt. Ephraim\u2014at 208 feet the tallest point of Pine Banks Park in Melrose\u2014was recently left charred by a brush fire. Even days later the area, with its view across Malden and Everett to the Boston skyline, smelled of the burn. Note:\u00a0To encourage social distancing to stem the spread of coronavirus, since March […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[2,41,236,745,741,744],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16143"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16256,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16143\/revisions\/16256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}