KINGFIELD — Firefighters, with the help of others, extinguished a fire Tuesday after lightning struck a tree near the top of Ira Mountain on Monday night, Fire Chief Fred Nichols said.
Firefighters from three departments and the Maine Forest Service responded Tuesday morning to a fire near the top of Ira Mountain in Kingfield. Kingfield Fire Department photo
A thunderstorm had rolled through the area Monday night, resulting in about one-quarter of an acre being scorched.
About 10 firefighters from Kingfield, Carrabassett Valley and New Portland, and the Maine Forest Service responded about 9 a.m. Tuesday. Firefighters used Kingfield’s and New Portland’s forestry trucks, which are repurposed military trucks to haul water up old logging roads.
It was very rocky and steep with a lot of ledge, Nichols said. They were up a couple of thousand feet.
Construction workers nearby helped put out the fire, and Nichols said firefighters were very grateful for their help.
Firefighters were able to get the trucks close to the area and had to only lay about 300 feet of hose. They used 3,000 gallons of water to douse the area and cleared about 12:30 p.m.
A firefighter will go up later to make sure the fire has not rekindled, Nichols said.
It was second time since early June that firefighters had doused fire on the mountain.
“It is just so dry out there,” Nichols said. “Right now it doesn’t take much to start a fire. The woods are very dry.”
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