Updated: While fire fighters work to extinguish the fire on Mt. Abram, a second fire was discovered on Spruce Mountain in Temple (originally reported as on Mt. Blue in Weld). About a third of an acre burned and was extinguished by eight area fire departments on Tuesday afternoon.
KINGFIELD – Rangers with fire fighters from around the state are continuing to battle a fire on Mt. Abraham’s summit and another forest fire was reported on Spruce Mountain Tuesday.
As of Monday about 43 acres has burned at the top of Mt. Abraham, locally know as Mt. Abram, since a lightning strike last Wednesday, June 22, ignited a fire. The Maine Forest Service continues to fight the stubborn blaze on Tuesday with a total of 25 rangers and fire fighters, said District Ranger Art Lavoie.
Last night, another forest fire was discovered at the top of Spruce Mountain in Temple. After the report Monday night of the fire, a ranger was sent in to locate it and a helicopter was dispatched to drop water to suppress the flames. About a third of an acre burned before 21 fire fighters could extinguish the flames, said Temple Fire Chief David True.
The fire in Temple may have also started from the same lightning storm last Wednesday and only showed itself Monday night. Fire fighters and equipment from with the mutual aid towns of Farmington, Chesterville, New Sharon, Wilton, Industry, Kingfield and Strong, assisted Temple with fighting the forest fire off the Jenkins Road beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
The eight towns were needed in order to supply enough water and fire fighters to the mountain side. Temple’ s Road Commissioner Toby Hellgren provided access for the fire departments’ tankers by smoothing the old logging roads. Crews wore Indian packs and Strong and Kingfield’s army trucks outfitted with large water tanks “made all the difference,” True said in supplying plenty of water up the mountain.
“It was so dry up there; the soil is like baby powder,” True said. Fire fighters had to dig down with hand tools because the fire had burned down six to 12 inches into the ground. He added “people want to be very careful” because the area is so dry. Crews left the scene about 3:30 p.m.
After residents in Kingfield reported the fire on Mt. Abram last Wednesday, it took a few days for the Maine Forest Service to locate the source as the fire wasn’t spotted and to get fire crews up the steep and remote area, which had proved difficult.
On Saturday, 10 fire fighters and three rangers were flown by helicopter to the very steep, 4,050-foot Mt. Abram summit but it proved too dangerous to leave them on the top due to wind gusts of 25 mph or more. The fire, driven by wind and exceptionally dry conditions, “just blew up,” Ranger Mark Rousseau said on Saturday.
Two helicopters continued to shuttle water to the top to help suppress the blaze. Winds kicked up again on Monday hampering the efforts to extinguish the flames.
Fire fighters, seven from northern Maine and seven from southern Maine, who are especially trained to battle forest fires, are working with five rangers and local fire crews to battle the “stubborn fire,” Lavoie said.
To reach the fire, it is a one hour drive from the Kingfield Fire Station where a command center has been set up and then it’s another hour to hike up to the summit. The mountain’s terrain is very steep and very rugged with a very dense forest of spruce, Rousseau said earlier.
While two helicopters carry buckets filled with water work to slow the fire, crews have installed a large dump tank at the top of Mt. Abram using rocks and logs as a frame for the plastic liner because there are no flat areas on top of the mountain. A helicopter delivered several 72-gallon water blivets or portable water containers, enough to fill the 1,200 gallon dump tank. Pumps and hoses are being laid so water can be brought in to the fire sources and to quench to surrounding dry areas.
The fire is located on the middle peak of the state-owned, 6,214-acre Mount Abraham Ecological Reserve. Mt. Abram is the ninth tallest peak in Maine. There are no structures threatened by fire in the remote area.
He added the Mt. Abram fire may take “three or four more days or maybe even a week” to completely extinguish. A chance of rain is forecast for Tuesday night into Wednesday.
On Saturday, the fire’s smoke could be seen rising from Mt. Abraham’s summit from Salem Road in Kingfield.
Great effort!!! Lets all hope for rain!
Hope last night’s rain has helped a lot.
We could see the smoke all the way from 201 in solon on saturday
Have a question, probably for Paul Mills- Is the mountain named Abram or Abraham?