EAST DIXFIELD — A skidder was destroyed by fire Tuesday morning as a logging crew worked deep in the woods off Gordon Road near Route 2 and the Wilton-Carthage line.

An employee went to hitch on to a load of wood and the mid-1990s Timberjack grapple skidder burst into flames at about 10:30 a.m., East Dixfield Fire Chief Randy Hall said.

The skidder, owned by Korhonen Logging of Livermore, was one of about five along with other machinery working on the property of John Steele. Crews from the other skidders pulled the burning skidder out from the work site to a landing to meet the firefighters who traveled three miles into the woods from the road, Hall said.

When they got there, the wood crews had put most of the fire out with extinguishers.  According to photos taken on the logger’s cell phone, the skidder was completely engulfed at one point, he said.

The cause of the fire was probably a mechanical problem, Hall said. The skidder is a total loss and Hall estimated about $25,000 in damage. The company was in the process of trading in the skidder.

No one was injured. Eight firefighters from East Dixfield responded to the call along with a representative from the Maine Forest Service, Hall said.

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