Firefighters battling a 12-acre forest fire atop Mt. Abraham in Franklin County said Sunday that despite dry conditions and steep terrain the blaze was under control.
Firefighters on Sunday attacked the fire, which had grown from 10 acres on Saturday to about 12 acres by the time firefighters arrived the following morning, working with a team of two helicopters to contain the spread.
A handful of local firefighters and rangers from the Maine Forest Service have been on scene since at least Wednesday and suspect that the fire had been raging for at least a week, ignited by a lightning strike.
The fire is on land owned by the state. No buildings or other property are at risk.
As helicopters dropped water overhead, crews encircled the fire’s perimeter, sometimes going hand-and-foot to test if the ground had cooled.
Ranger Gregg Hesslein said the fire was smoldering on the interior but there were fewer open flames, an indication that crews were winning.
“They’re not at the mop-up stage yet because they’re working on the perimeter and putting out hot spots,” Hesslein said. “Probably tomorrow they’ll do the same operation and hopefully have it knocked out. ”
He added, “These are like fall fires, burning quite deep in the ground. That’s what takes so much time — to make sure it’s cold. The rule of thumb is, if on the third day after you last found smoke it’s cool, then you’re good.”
Crews were expected to be back on scene tomorrow.
“I think they’ve stopped it; we just don’t want to say it’s out,” Hesslein said, “but they have a good handle on it.”
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