ALFRED, Maine — The woods, fields and lawns in York County and beyond are far too dry, prompting fire officials in many of the 29 county municipalities to institute a burn ban.
The fire danger in York County remains in the “very high” category on the scale, York County fire and emergency management officials say. The next category is “extreme.”
York County has experienced 15 wildfires from Aug. 1 to 27, and a total of 66 from Jan. 1 to Aug. 27, according to Lt. George Harris of the Maine Forest Service. He said there have been 214 wildfires statewide since Aug. 1, and 617 since Jan 1.
There have been 15 wildfires in York County from Aug. 1 to Aug. 27, and as dry conditions continue– even though rain is in the forecast– county fire and emergency management officials advise residents to refrain from burning anything.
No burn permits are being issued, Harris noted. And, he added, in York County, 53 percent of wildland fires have been caused by recreational fires and account for 85 percent of all acreage burned.
County Fire Administrator Roger Hooper said it’s just too dangerous for outdoor burning. A fire may look like it has been extinguished, but embers can escape and fires on the ground can produce burning deep under the surface, he said.
“Cool nights can fool people,” into thinking matters are improving, said Hooper. Daytime humidity turns into dew overnight in cooler temperatures, but the sun and a breeze the following day can kick up fire.
“It’s not safe to burn outside right now,” said York County Emergency Management Agency Director Art Cleaves. “Debris fuel in the woods is extremely dry. Fires are burning deep and are near impossible to fully extinguish. Many pond hydrants are dry or too low to provide water resources, and rivers are lower than normal.”
Low water levels are something Sanford Assistant Fire Chief Brian Watkins observes on his way to work every day.
“I notice how low the ponds are,” he said, “And a stream under Route 202 is bone dry, there’s not a drop running.”
Water levels in the Saco River are “pretty much at an all-time low” in 107 years of gathering data, meteorologist Donald Dumont of the National Weather Service in Gray told a gathering of fire and emergency management officials on Wednesday.
While York County locations were expected to get some welcome rain during these, the last few days of August, including a forecasted half inch in several locations on Aug. 29, the rainfall was not expected to put much of a dent in the amount needed to significantly lower the fire danger.
“The rain will be helpful, while it is raining,” said Hooper.
York County, and indeed much of Maine, needs about 6 inches of rain or more, said Harris.
And while not every community has instituted a fire ban, in general, residents seem to be aware of the current fire danger, fire officials have said.
“People realize conditions are very dry,” said Waterboro Fire Chief Matt Bors.
“Most people are very understanding,” said Goodwin’s Mills Fire Chief Dylan Martin.
Still, fires happen and can quickly spread.
“This is not a routine situation, and we should take it seriously,” said Cleaves, of York County EMA.
The message, say Hooper and Cleaves: “Don’t burn anything.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Fire danger ‘very high’ in York County: Communities institute burn bans