Maine firefighters head west to battle blazes

OLD TOWN — A 20-member crew composed of Maine Forest Service rangers and trained firefighters from throughout the state is scheduled to leave for Northern California this morning to help battle a spate of woodland fires there.

The Maine crew will focus its attention on a series of fires near Redding, Calif., where more than 1,500 acres were burning as of Friday afternoon. One of the larger blazes, a 400-acre brush fire, is threatening timber resources and historical structures near Shasta Lake.

U.S. Forest Service Headquarters in Radnor, Pa., requested the Maine crew Thursday as several large fires continued to burn in a number of western states, including California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming. Those states are experiencing extremely dry conditions, according to Forest Service officials, who deemed the fire danger there extreme.

Maine Forest Service Ranger Jerry Parsons said Friday the crew’s destination may change depending on the severity of fires elsewhere in the west.

As of Friday afternoon, the crew was waiting in the Manchester, N.H., airport for an available plane.

Parsons said the majority of the crew was from southern Maine.

From Penobscot County, Brad Strout of Corinth and Wesley Hatch of Argyle, will travel west as part of the Maine contingent. Other crew members include Daniel Norton and Rick Tidd, both of Houlton, Mark Cummings of Sherman Station, Richard Wark of Mapleton and Howard Brown Jr. of Camden.

Crew members have made a two-week commitment to the mission, Parsons said.