No burning, officials urge, as high fire danger persists

ALFRED – The ground and forest is dry as dust and fire personnel throughout York County are keeping the message simple and to the point: Don’t burn anything.

In fact, none of York County’s 29 municipalities are issuing burn permits and the neither is the Maine Forest Service.

There have been fires in the woods in a number of locations – a stubborn woods fire in Acton that began with a campfire burned 8 acres over several days, said MFS Lt. George Harris. A woods fire behind Home Depot and Cumberland Farms on Alfred Street in Biddeford burned for 3-4 days and on one night reached four alarms, with more than 50 firefighters from Biddeford and around the region responding. Biddeford officials said the fire burned a foot into the ground, and firefighters used hand tools to dig the fire out.

York County Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Megan Arsenault on Friday  categorized the fire danger in York County as high and very high.

While some parts of York County got rain on Thursday afternoon, not every community did.

“We got 4 minutes of rain,” said South Berwick Fire Chief Nick Hamel.

The precipitation outlook for the next several days is no better.

In a county-wide online meeting with fire personnel Friday morning, National Weather Service meteorologist Donald Dumont of the Gray office said showers are in the forecast for Sunday evening, but cautioned that any precipitation will be light.

“We’re not expecting much from it,” Dumont said. “Overall, we’re expecting a tenth of an inch over the next 10 days. This is not much of a rainmaker.”

Harris told York County’s firefighters that Maine needs six inches of rain to lessen the fire danger.

He said the Maine Forest Service is at maximum staffing, days off are cancelled and that the agency is in contact with neighboring regions in case assistance is needed. He told firefighters the Maine Air National Guard is available if need be.

“We’re doing a lot of active monitoring for fire activity, using satellite imagery that allows us to look at heat signatures,” Harris said.

County fire chiefs asked if a statewide burn ban was in the offing, but Harris on Friday morning said conditions statewide were not yet at the level required, but there are ongoing conversations.

“You can restrict any fires within your communities,” Harris said.

County Fire Administrator Roger Hooper said departments are doing what they can to discourage outside burning of any kind, including campfires.

“If we get the word out, the vast majority of people will comply,” Hooper said.

Meanwhile, until the weather and conditions change, firefighters and emergency management personnel will be on alert.

“It looks like a bit of a long haul before we get any break in this,” said York County Emergency Management Agency Director Art Cleaves.

A woods fire that burned in Biddeford for several days earlier this week required firefighters to dig out fire with  hand tools – the fire had burned a foot into the forest floor. There is little rain in the forecast over the next 10 days, meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Gray said Friday morning and fire officials across York County are urging folks to refrain from any outside burning. – Photo courtesy Biddeford Fire Department.