At the time of this writing, the forecast calls for several days of on-again, off-again showers into the weekend. We really need it. If we are in for a sprinkle here or there, it is not going to help us much.
We need a couple days worth of good steady rain; a good, soaking rain, Dad would call it.
Right now, arid lawns are so dry they are cement-hard. Dust devils leap into the air with the slightest provocation.
We know, we know; it’s Maine, we have weather here. If you don’t like it, wait a minute, it will change. That’s true, but while we are waiting, we urge everyone to exercise extreme caution outdoors.
This is the time of year when one little spark can start a little fire and as dry as it is, a little fire can quickly become a big, big problem.
We got a good look at it last week in Jefferson when responders needed more than nine hours to knock down a stubborn grass fire.
Every year about this time, we have a stretch just after the thaw, when the ground is still wet but the top cover is dry and grass and brush fires are plentiful.
This year dry as it is, the danger is that much greater. By and large, here in the East we are fortunate enough to avoid the super-sized infernos that annually plague the West; burning tens of thousands of acres and sometimes millions of dollars worth of property.
We generally avoid such trouble, but we can’t avoid the danger. We have enough resources here to create a decent sized disaster of our own if circumstances fall just right.
In the best of times, being a firefighter is a major time commitment. Week in and week out, we ask a lot of our local firefighters. Being careful with our deliberate flames is the least we can do.
