Temperatures fall, fire danger rises

Maine temperatures simmered well above normal Sunday, but drier air eased the effects of what was a heat wave in some places and the practical equivalent elsewhere.

“Oh, it’s not as bad today,” said meteorologist Mike Middlebrooke at the National Weather Service in Portland, where the temperature hit 91 degrees by mid-afternoon. However, a drop in humidity made for more comfortable conditions.

It was the fifth day of 90-degree-plus temperatures in Maine’s largest city, matching a record set in 1944 and tied in 1948.

But with the dry, cooling breezes came a higher fire danger Sunday, with most of the state in a high to very high danger zone. The wind is causing very dry conditions from Old Town south, according to Forest Ranger Jim Downie of the Maine Forest Service, who said, however, the main concern at this point is lightning.

A fire Sunday afternoon that started in a pile of peat at a power plant in Deblois only burned a half acre, across a blueberry field and not quite reaching the woods, before it was extinguished, he said.

Downie said that recreational fires are becoming a problem, and forest rangers find that many are not extinguished properly when the rangers spot-check campfire sites. Most of the eight or so fires in southern Maine over the weekend were caused by campfires or lightning strikes, he said.

Rangers are restricting fire permits to very accessible areas in southern Maine, which has not seen much rain in the last six weeks. The northern part of the state is just beginning to dry out again after some rainfall in the past couple of weeks, said Downie.

The relative break in the air came as a relief, said Penny Price at the Miss Brunswick Diner in Brunswick.

“It’s not as heavy,” she said while cleaning up after the breakfast rush. Business remained busier than normal, Price said, in part because “we’re air-conditioned.”

“What it is really,” she added, “is they stop in before they go to the beach. I didn’t expect people to venture out, but they have,” she said.

Sgt. Dennis Rawlings of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department said the even though the beaches at Green Lake were very busy Sunday, people seemed to want to escape the heat and not cause trouble. He said one beach attendant said it was very busy all last week.

Police in Old Orchard Beach said the seaside strand there was packed again, mirroring turnouts all along the coast.

In Richmond, the Maine Coast Solar Bares held a picnic outing for nudists as part of a national observance that fell on the summer’s hottest weekend in the East.

“We’re certainly celebrating it the right way,” said Hessa Schneider, the club’s president. “I don’t see anybody seeking shade at this moment.”

Tourists from Utah, Georgia and other parts of the nation were checked in at the Bar Harbor Inn, where an ocean breeze moderated the mugginess.

“It’s very busy,” said front desk clerk Donna Fortney. “Nobody’s leaving because of the heat.”

Shoppers and other townbound travelers boosted patronage at popular watering holes in Portland.

“People want to get out of the heat, so they come in for a beer,” said Matt Libby at the boutique adjacent to the bar at Gritty McDuff’s. “The AC helps. So does a nice, cool beer.”