BETHEL — A small forest fire in was completely supressed Tuesday morning by firefighters from the Bethel, Greenwood and Woodstock fire departments and a Maine Forest Service fire suppression helicopter-dispatched from Augusta.
A lightning strike that hit a lone pine tree on Mt. Walker in Bethel late Monday afternoon is the suspected cause of the fire, Bill Williams of the Maine Forest Service said.
“The call that alerted us to the fire came in around 4:30 Monday afternoon,” Al Curtis, fire chief of the Greenwood Fire Department, said. “People on the East Bethel Road, reported smoke billowing up from the woods after lightning struck the area.”
Fire crews from Bethel, Greenwood and Woodstock responded to the call along with Brad Bucknell of the Maine Forest Service. About 24 firefighters from Bethel and Greenwood responded as fire personnel from Woodstock served backup for the three towns, Curtis said.
“The fire was about a mile way from Route 26 in Bethel in rough terrain,” Curtis said. “The fire was a half-mile up a 45-degree incline of the mountain. It was a very difficult climb with our water packs,” Curtis said, “we had to zig-zag up and back to get to the location.”
“We were able to contain the fire to a 50-60 foot radius of where the lightning hit the tree,” Curtis said.
“The rain and the high humidity, which accompanied the line of thunder and lightning storms, that moved through the Bethel area between 2 and 4 p.m. helped keep the fire from spreading.” Williams said.
“We deployed one of our four UH I Huey, Vietnam-era, helicopters from Augusta to help suppress the fire,” Williams said. “We found a water source several hundred yards from the fire to obtain water.”
“Our helicopter made 10-12 trips from the water source to the fire,” Williams said, “carrying 230 gallons of water with every trip.”
The firefighters retired from the fire for the day on Monday at around 10:30 p.m., according to Curtis. On Tuesday morning, firefighters from Bethel and the Maine Forest Service helicopter returned to fully extinguish the fire by noon.
“We generally get one back-country forest fire call a year,” Curtis said. “Last year we had a fire on the back side of Mt Abram in Bethel.
“We are having a fairly slow fire season thus far in the Maine woods,” Williams said.
“We have several firefighters who are helping fight fires in Texas and other places in the South that are getting hit hard by fires,” Williams said. “I would like to have as many assets in Maine should the fire conditions change.”
“All it takes is three to four consecutive days of high heat and dry conditions,” Williams said, “to significantly raise the fire danger level.”
BETHEL— A small forest fire in Bethel’s wilderness back-country, was completely suppressed Tuesday morning by firefighters from the Bethel, Greenwood and Woodstock Fire Departments and a Maine Forest Service fire suppression helicopter-dispatched from Augusta.
A lightning strike, that hit a lone pine tree on Mt. Walker in Bethel, late Monday afternoon, is the suspected cause of the fire, according to Bill Williams of the Maine Forest Service.
“The call that alerted us to the fire came in around 4:30 Monday afternoon,” said Al Curtis Fire Chief of the Green wood Fire Department,” people on the East Bethel Road, reported smoke bellowing up from the woods after lightning struck the area.”
Fire crews from Bethel, Greenwood and Woodstock immediately responded to the call along with Brad Bucknell of the Maine Forest Service-whose coverage area included the fire scene. About 24 fire personnel from Bethel and Greenwood actively engaged the fire as fire personnel from Woodstock served as coverage for the three town should another fire break out in the three towns, according to Curtis.
“The fire was about a mile way from Route 26 in Bethel in rough terrain, said Curtis. “The fire was a half-mile up a 45-degree incline of the mountain. It was a very difficult climb with our water packs, ” Cutis added,” we had to zig-zag up and back to get to the location.”
“We were able to contain the fire to a 50-60 foot radius of where the lightning hit the tree,” Curtis said. Brad Bucknell decided to enlist the help of the Forest Service’s fire suppression helicopter on Monday to help with the containment of the fire.”
“The rain and the high humidity, which accompanied the line of thunder and lightening storms, that moved through the Bethel area between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. helped keep the fire from spreading.” Williams said.
“We deployed one of our four UH I Huey, Vietnam Era, helicopters from Augusta to help suppress the fire,” Williams said. “We found a water source several hundred yards from the fire to obtain water.”
“Our helicopter made 10-12 trips from the water source to the fire,”Williams said, “carrying 230 gallons of water with every trip.”
“Fighting back-country forest fires the helicopters generally quiet and suppress the fire from spreading,” Williams said,” and the ‘ground-pounders’ (firefighters on the surface) put the fire out.”
The fire-fighters retired from the fire for the day on Monday around 10:30 p.m., according to Curtis. On Tuesday morning firefighters from Bethel and the Maine Forest Service helicopter returned to fully extinguish the fire by noon.
“We generally get one back-country forest fire call a year,” Curtis said.”Lat year we had a fire on the back side of Mt Abram in Bethel.
“We are having a fairly slow fire season thus far in the Maine woods,” Williams said. “Which of course is a good thing.
“We have several firefighters who are helping fight fires in Texas and other places in the South that are getting hit hard by fires,” Williams said. “I would like to have as many assets in Maine should the fire conditions change.”
“All it takes is three to four consecutive days of high heat and dry conditions
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