It took a couple of hours for firefighters to extinguish an illegal brush fire near the intersection of Turner Ridge and Patricktown Roads in Somerville Dec. 7. Somerville firefighters called in mutual aid from Whitefield after they discovered the toxic and extremely hot debris fire behind a resident’s house.
“It was dangerous,” Somerville Fire Chief Mike Dostie said. “Things were exploding in the fire.”
Dostie said his department was on high alert after the 12:30 p.m. report of black smoke. He said heavy, black smoke is usually an indication of a structure fire. Since the resident had not obtained a burn permit, Dostie said his department had to assume the worst.
“We had to carry hose up in,” he said. “The road (a woods road to the scene of the fire) was too slippery. The trucks couldn’t get up in there.”
Dostie said the Somerville Fire Dept. brought three engines to tackle the blaze and Whitefield responded with a tanker and pumper vehicle. They extinguished the fire with foam a little after 2 p.m., he said. There were no injuries as a result of this fire.
“Once it got going, it really took off,” Dostie said about the blaze, adding that there were other items in the fire that should not have been included.
Permitted fires are easier to track. Dostie said that departments don’t mind fighting permitted fires that get out of hand. Fire departments can easily trace the permit and find the location of the fire.
Since this fire was not permitted, the individual will receive a fine, Dostie said. The Maine Forest Service was called in to handle the legal details of this case. According to Maine Forest Service District Ranger Les Thornton, the individual responsible for the fire has received a summons for burning without a permit and for burning prohibited materials.
Thornton refused to identify who was summonsed saying it was departmental policy and no information would be released unless and until the case goes to court.
Dostie said that there are advantages to getting a fire permit. For one, they are free.
“It also tells a person how many people are needed on site and what tools will be needed to maintain the fire safely,” he said.
