A FIREFIGHTER PULLS a hose over rough terrain Monday while fighting a brush fire off the Murder Road in Topsham.
Firefighters from at least seven fire departments were on the scene Monday afternoon of a large brush fire on Murder Road, a dirt road off Middlesex Road in Topsham.
The brush fire was reported at 2:38 p.m. Topsham Fire Chief Brian Stockdale said when firefighters first arrived, a number of spots were burning.
“(The fire) started somewhere and worked its way underground to different places,” Stockdale said.
He estimated three to four acres burned.
“It went over the crest, down the hill, across the ravine, up the other side. We were able to surround it and get it cut off,” Stockdale said.
Stockdale said that as of 4:45 p.m. Monday, firefighters had stopped the fire’s growth and any of it’s major progression, containing it. That allowed firefighters to push inward, digging out stumps, cutting vegetation and digging out the undergrowth. There was no danger to any structures and the fire was well-contained, Stockdale said.
The fire did burn some property that is part of the Cripps Creek Disc Golf course that opened in March.
There was plenty of water through the tanker shuttle, Stockdale said, but the difficulty was that there was really no room to put trucks.
“The terrain makes it really difficult for us to maneuver the hose lines,” Stockdale said. “They’re heavy and trying to drag them up and down hills. It’s difficult.”
Materials such as wood, leaves and pine needles beneath the immediate top layer of ground cover, once burning, means fire can burn its way underneath the ground following root systems. That makes fighting the fire very labor-intensive, according to Stockdale said.
“It’s going to be a long day,” the chief said.
Stockdale said it is an unusual time of the year for a brush fire, adding that Topsham has been lucky over the past few years to not have any really large brush fires.
Challenges were compounded by the fact that the fire occured during the middle of the day — at a time when most of the department’s volunteer staff are working.
Mutual aid was provided by seven or eight neighboring departments.
A Maine Fire Warden arrived on scene at around 5 p.m. and a fire investigator with the Brunswick Fire Department was on scene working to find the cause of the fire as well.
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