Baby, It’s Dry Out There

The Augusta Fire Department was putting out a wildfire near the Augusta-Chelsea line, and there was a fire in Rome that needed to be knocked down. That is one day. Each week there are more and more are being reported. 

Wildfires in Maine in the spring are not unheard of, and in fact, they are a growing issue when you take the typical spring issue where we have that dry, dead grass from last year and the dry branches that have dried-out over the winter and add into that a dry conditions it can make the situation worse. 

Spring 2021 has already surpassed where Maine was in the spring of 2020 for wildfires and could beat the record that was set for in 2020.  

The weather for 2020 was on the dry side, which only adds to wildfires, and a few showers here and there do not solve the problem.

According to centralmaine.com, wildfires come from things like burning debris, camping, equipment, smoking, anything that can cause a spark could be an issue, and of course arson. From the sounds of it, that wildfire being started by lighting is not really an issue…most of it is human-made in some way. 

If you are going to do anything with burning, do it safely; check with the local fire department and get a burn permit, have a water source handy, don’t burn on a windy day. If you smoke, be mindful of where those butts go. (Side note: don’t leave cigarette butts on the ground, they are not environmentally friends and can be dangerous to a dog if they find one and ingests it.)

Botton line is if you are planning on burning, just be very careful and use extreme caution.