DOVER-FOXCROFT (AP) — A Utah man blamed for causing a fire on a remote central Maine mountaintop has been ordered to pay the state nearly $74,000 in restitution for firefighting efforts.
The Maine Forest Service announced Wednesday that Richard Wes Coers pleaded no contest this week to a charge of failure to extinguish a fire on Big Spencer Mountain, about 20 miles north of Greenville.
The wildfire that started Aug. 4 burned about two acres, but was difficult to tackle because of its location and the rough terrain. In addition to ground crews, helicopters dropped nearly 45,000 gallons of water on the blaze.
Officials say the fire started when embers from an unpermitted burn pile of leftover construction materials were blown by a helicopter airlifting a communication building on the site.
Report a correction
In order to make comments, you must verify your account.
In order to comment on SunJournal.com, you must use your real name and include the town in which you live in your profile. A member of our staff will call you to verify this information. To join in, fill out your user profile completely and check the box "please verify my status." We'll get back to you within one business day to verify your account.
Login or create an account here.
Our policy prohibits comments that are:
- Defamatory, abusive, obscene, racist, or otherwise hateful
- Excessively foul and/or vulgar
- Inappropriately sexual
- Baseless personal attacks or otherwise threatening
- Contain illegal material, or material that infringes on the rights of others
- Commercial postings attempting to sell a product/item
If you violate this policy, your comment will be removed and your account may be banned.