MAINE PUBLIC • November 8, 2021
Last year, Maine had more than 1,100 fires, the highest number in 35 years. Most of them were under half an acre in size — nothing like the massive 1825 Mirimichi fire that began in New Brunswick, jumped a river and blackened more 800,000 in Maine. Or the fires in Oct. 1947, when firefighters battled 200 separate fires across the state. Entire towns were evacuated and hundreds of homes and businesses were gutted. Patty Cormier, director of the Maine Forest Service, says before 1947, fires were typically 1,000 acres or larger. After that fire suppression evolved; fire departments were established and fire training became a priority; and, recently, there has been a focus on upgrading an aerial fleet to fight fire from above. But Cormier says there are clouds on the horizon. To keep areas susceptible to burning from blowing up, prescribed fires can be used as a preventive measure.