FARMINGTON – Patty Cormier captivated Farmington Rotarians with a presentation at last week’s Rotary meeting.
Patty is a Mt. Abram graduate with an illustrious career. She is District Forester for the Maine Forestry Service and is very active in Small Woodlot Owners of America – Maine. Patty is also a first responder in area fire and ambulance organizations. She has hiked the Appalachian Trail and if that is not enough, she and her husband John Cormier also run a local business – Wild Fern Winery where they have a hoop house and grow their own grapes.
When the forest fires were recently raging out west this summer, Patty flew with a New Hampshire team to Montana to battle a fire. She laughed when she said, “I could have titled this what I did for my summer vacation…” When she arrived, 500 acres had burned. Two days later, 6,000 acres were charred beyond recognition. The fire burned so hot that there was 100% ignition. Fire lines that the firefighters had built quickly leapt leaving not only the trees burned, but the topsoil destroyed.
Crews would work for 16 hours straight for a month, but they were conditioned and ready for the work. Firefighters are required to be able to walk 3 miles with a 45 pound back in 45 minutes. While ready for the work, crews from New England are highly respected for their work ethic and go above and beyond and are highly sought after, Patty said.
Patty enjoys fighting fires despite the long hours, but as a forester, she couldn’t help but comment on the limited resources that are being put into prevention. “More needs to be done.”
Farmington Rotary meets Thursday mornings at 7 am in the North Dining Hall at UMF. All are welcome. Like Farmington Rotary on facebook at facebook.com/Farmington-Maine-Rotary-Club or check out their website at https://farmingtonrotary.us//
I’m not trying to be mean but with all the billions we spend for national guard and
fire apparatus why cant we put the fire out? We have big machines, helicopters airplanes etc and fire burns for weeks if not months. Trump spoke about this and said we struggle in this aspect a lot. Please explain why this is a problem especially out west. Doesn’t seem to be such a big deal in New England ??
Not mean Walley just not informed. Big difference in the eco systems of the east and west. Start with the book The Big Burn of 1910 and then go from there. This will help you realize the magnitude of fires out west along with climate change exasperatingly the conditions.
why don’t we be proactive instead of waiting for the fire to happen as it does over and over. Like Wally says we spend billions and billions but cant put the fire out. there’s got to be a way to resolve this.