A wildfire in Castine has now burned for three days in a row as it persists in the undergrowth and tree roots of more than three acres of woodland near the Penobscot town line.
The fire is about a mile south of the intersection of Route 166A and Route 199, locally known as Castine Road and Dunbar Road, respectively.
More than a dozen local fire departments have helped fight it, along with state forest rangers and other organizations.
Without them, “this fire could have been much more serious, dangerous, and out of control,” Town Manager Derik Goodine said on the town’s Facebook page Thursday.
A “ground fire,” it is smoldering mostly underground and occasionally flaring up, according to Goodine. Ground fires can move slowly beneath the forest floor and are often more difficult to put out than fires at the surface, according to the National Park Service.
Travelers were asked again Friday to avoid using Castine Road between Dunbar Road and Shore Road while firefighters continue their work. That section of road, which connects two major routes into town, has had restricted public access when firefighters have been at the scene but was reopened Thursday evening when those efforts paused for the night.
On Thursday, firefighters widened a 20-foot fire break around the Castine blaze using a bulldozer and continued hitting hot spots with water, according to the town. No injuries or building damage had been reported as of Thursday night.
Town officials don’t know when or how the fire started, according to the Ellsworth American, but it was first reported Wednesday afternoon.
People have been stopping by trying to see the fire, Goodine told the Bangor Daily News, but it is not visible from the road and the town has asked them to stay away to avoid interfering with fire trucks bringing water to the scene.
Towns on the Blue Hill Peninsula, including Castine, last month started developing a shared wildfire protection plan to help them identify and manage wildfire risks together. The 18-month planning process is expected to help the region prepare for the potential of increased fire danger in the Northeast.
