By Renee Worthing

Register Reporter

Damp weather last weekend and a mid-week deluge are expected to give firefighters a reprieve from what was shaping up to be a busy brushfire season. However, those dangers may reemerge if fluctuating weather patterns bring another wave of dry air to the region.

As spring yard clean ups begin in earnest, many property owners burn leaves and twigs that weren’t raked up before the snow began to fall, but fire officials are warning people to be very careful this time of year.

Maine Forest Service Ranger Claudette Desautels said spring is a dangerous time of year for fires.

“Believe it or not, pine needles and leaves can still cure under snow,” she said. “It can become tinder.”

She said even if it has rained the night before, the sun can dry leaves out again by afternoon, creating hazardous conditions.

Weeks of unseasonably warm and dry weather culminated April 24 with the first time this season the danger was classified as a class 4 day, meaning the possibility of brushfires is very high. Class five is the highest rating. The danger is rated by how dry the wood material on the ground is, the temperature and humidity.

Kennebunk Fire Chief Stephen Nichols said fire fighters in Kennebunk responded to six fires last week, three of them the evening of April 24. 

The ground was still wet underneath but the top layer was dry, allowing fires to spread quickly on the surface, Nichols said at the time.

“People are burning without permits,” Nichols said, noting burn permits are only issued on class 1 and 2 days. 

Nichols said two of the fires were from residents burning brush and the third was a fire in a commercial fire pit he happened to notice as he drove by.

“It was full of wood and roaring,” Nichols said. “If I hadn’t noticed it, I’m sure we would have gone out there later for a bigger fire.”

He said when burn permits are issued the site of the fire is not inspected.

“We take people at their word that they have a charged garden hose and hand tools readily available,” Nichols said.

He said the hose must reach the way around the perimeter of the fire and beyond.

Nichols said most fires are caused by negligence and when permitted fires get out of control such as when a house burned after a fire in a barrel got out of control on Tall Pines Drive in Sanford April 8.

“If a fire gets out of control, call 911 immediately,” he said.

He said a summons could be issued if a person has a fire without a permit and the department is allowed to charge negligent property owners for responding to out-of-control fires, he said.

“We’re in the stage where vegetation is not green. The snow is gone but the leaves are susceptible to ignition,” Sanford Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Rowe said. “This time of year, it’s day by day and the wind is a huge determining factor.”

Desautels agreed that fires are started this time of year by carelessness.

“A cigarette out the window starts many of the roadside fires,” she said.

She said in the past two weeks there have been a couple of fires in Lebanon as well as one April 18 in Wells.

She said the Wells fire – caused by a four-wheeler – burned four acres of land. She said the driver of the ATV could face possible fines if found at fault, whether the fire was intentional or not.

She said the Maine Forest Service no longer operates the fire towers on Mt. Agamenticus, Mount Hope and Ossippee. Instead, they are manned by fire department or community volunteers. While the forest service no longer operates the towers, it contracts with a private company for air detection flights on Class 3 and Class 4 fire danger days. She said the planes fly a pre-designated path past certain checkpoints.

She said the Maine Forest Service and the National Weather Service also post daily fire danger warnings on their Web sites. She said it is recommended that people wait until after 5 p.m. to have a fire.

“That is when the relative humidity goes up, the temperatures go down and the wind, hopefully, dies down,” she said.