Smoke from Salem brush fire moves across southeastern Mass.

Crews are fighting a large brush fire in Salem amid dry and windy conditions in southern New England.

The fire started on Saturday evening in the woods near a Walmart store in Salem. Flames were visible and smoke had engulfed the area. By Monday morning, the National Weather Service reported that more than 100 acres of forest had burned.

There were no reports of injuries or evacuations.

The National Guard assisted in fighting the fire on Sunday, using a Blackhawk helicopter with a suspended bucket to conduct more than 45 water drops on the blaze, according to an agency spokesperson.

A strong smell of smoke and haze settled over southern New England Monday morning as a result of the Salem blaze along with a number of smaller fires across Massachusetts, according to the National Weather Service Boston. The weather service predicted the smoke would dissipate in the late morning.

The brush fires in the area have made air quality unhealthy for sensitive groups including older people, those with heart and lung disease, and children, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

David Cash, the regional administrator of EPA New England, recommends people take precautions until the smoke clears out.

"It's rare for there to be forest fires or brush fires in Massachusetts, so that's why this is making news," Cash said. "If you have breathing difficulties, if the smell outside is bothering you, then go inside. Do your activities inside until this clears."

A woman died in an separate outdoor fire at an encampment in Millbury on Saturday night.

When state police responded to the small brush fire in Millbury around 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, a trooper found the woman dead in the encampment where the fire was thought to have started. The fire was put out and the cause is under investigation. Police noted that Massachusetts was under a red flag warning on Saturday, meaning that any outdoor fire could spread quickly and be hard to extinguish.

A red flag warning was in place for southern New Hampshire on Sunday, where several brush fires broke out the day before. The National Weather Service warned that the combination of dryness and winds gusting up to 35 mph was expected to create critical fire weather conditions leading to the potential for rapid fire growth in dead and dry vegetation.

With reporting from WBUR's Katie Cole and John Bender, and The Associated Press.