A FIREFIGHTER works to extinguish a brush fire off Murder Road in Topsham Monday afternoon that drew a mutual aid response from several neighboring towns that included a lot of manpower and a tank shuttle to provide water supply.
The cause of a brush fire that burned approximately three acres of wooded area off Murder Road Monday afternoon is undetermined, said Topsham Fire Chief Brian Stockdale.
The smoky fire was reported at 2:38 p.m. and drew mutual aid responses from departments in Brunswick, Lisbon, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Bath, and West Bath. Some departments provided station coverage, others were on scene and Bath covered Topsham’s medical calls, Stockdale said. Firefighters cleared from the scene at about 7:30 p.m.
While at the scene of the fire Monday afternoon, Stockdale said when firefighters first arrived there was fire burning in a number of different spots, “so it started somewhere and worked its way underground to different places.”
He added: “It went over the crest, down the hill, across the ravine, up the other side. We were able to surround it and get it cutoff.”
Fire investigator Jeff Emerson from Brunswick Fire Department and a Maine Fire Ranger were on scene but the cause couldn’t be determined due to the extent of the damage, Stockdale said.
The majority of the fire, which was quickly contained, was on Cripps Creek Disc Golf property at hole 13. Owner Kirt Weaver said Tuesday afternoon that he’d already cleaned up the debris. Many of the trees that caught fire were already dead or dying, and he believes the hard wood trees that were partly scorched will be fine.
Stockdale said no one was on the disc golf course at the time of the fire and said no one was hurt.
The Cripps Creek Facebook page posted a photo of the damage at hole 13 and warns players who visit the intermediate course to “please be careful with your cigarette butts, it’s very dry out there.”
The fire had traveled underground and kept surfacing in different areas Monday Weaver said, so he spent Tuesday making sure there were no pop-up fires, using a backhoe to turn over the ground as a preventive measure.
The 18-hole disc golf course, which is located at 357 Middlesex Road, is open.
dmoore@timesrecord.com
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