A Phippsburg man has been charged with a misdemeanor after embers from a brush fire he was tending ignited a nearby trailer in Bristol, Nov. 30.
Jeffrey Patterson, 50, of Phippsburg, faces a charge of burning outside the conditions of a permit, a Class E misdemeanor, in connection with the fire on Bristol Mews Road.
Dan Skillings, a forest ranger with the Maine Forest Service, said Patterson was working for the landowner, Sally Berry at the time of the fire. Patterson had been removing old cars, tearing down the trailer and otherwise cleaning up the property.
Bristol firefighters responded to the reported structure fire shortly after 1:30 p.m.
According to Bristol Fire Chief Paul Leeman, the decrepit, unoccupied trailer ignited after the wind blew embers from the brush fire onto the structure. Berry had obtained a burn permit online for the fire, Leeman said.
Mutual aid response was called but was able to stand down after Leeman arrived on the scene and assessed the situation, Leeman said. Firefighters from all three Bristol fire stations responded and extinguished the fire before 3 p.m.
There were no injuries related to the fire, Leeman said, adding the condition of the Bristol Mews Road is a long-standing concern for Bristol Fire and Rescue.
“Thank God there were no snow banks,” Leeman said. “The road is in no condition for what I would call life safety speed.”
Skillings was called to the scene because a state burn permit was involved, Leeman said.
Citing safety concerns, Leeman had brought the road to the attention of the Bristol Board of Selectmen in September. The board discussed the road with several residents during a Nov. 9 meeting.
During the Nov. 9 meeting, the board declined to commit the town’s resources to physically repairing the road, citing the opinion of the town’s attorney that Bristol cannot take an active role in repairing the privately owned road.
The selectmen instead offered assistance in helping Bristol Mews Road residents form a road association and/or help them obtain a better price for repairs.
(The original posting of this story reported Chief Leeman attended the Nov. 9 Board of Selectmen’s meeting. He was not present Nov. 9. Leeman expressed concern about the condition of the road at a Sept. 14 selectmen’s meeting.)