A wildfire burning on the Kennebunk-Sanford line had burned dozens of acres by Wednesday night and fire crews from 13 communities were expected to remain at the scene well into the morning hours of Thursday.
More than 60 acres of mostly forested land in the vicinity of 22 Wild Turkey Lane in Kennebunk had burned since the fire was reported around 3:53 p.m., said Lt. Greg Jones of the Sanford Fire Department. Most of southern and coastal Maine was in a moderate fire danger zone Wednesday.
“The fire was clearly wind driven,” Jones said.
Jones said he believes the wildfire started in Sanford before it spread to Kennebunk where people could see a large plume of black smoke on the horizon.
The affected area is a large piece of land just south of the city-owned Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport between Routes 99 and 109, Jones said.
No structures were threatened and no injuries had been reported by Wednesday evening.
More than 30 Sanford firefighters responded. The fire was so intense that a Portland meteorologist said it was showing up on weather radar.
The Maine Forest Service at 10 p.m. issued a tweet that said the wildfire was 50 percent contained. Protections for several nearby homes has also been put in place, rangers said.
The cause of the fire is not known, but the Maine Forest Service has issued warnings to property owners to be extra cautions when burning brush or materials. Rangers say that the chance of a wildfire breaking out is very high right now because forests and open spaces have not had enough time to grow greenery.
Ted Talbot, spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation, also issued a warning Wednesday urging drivers to refrain from throwing cigarettes out car windows.
“Recent roadside fires have been attributed to lit cigarettes being discarded out of the vehicle’s window and onto the roadway where they have rolled into the surrounding grass and brush,” Talbot said.
Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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