Smoke from Quebec drifts to The County

ASHLAND – Smoke that drifted across much of Aroostook County on Wednesday morning was coming from a forest fire in Quebec province.

Russ Beauchemin, regional ranger for the Northern Maine Region of the Maine Forest Service, said he had received information from Canadian officials that three large fires were burning in the province about 300 miles north of Estcourt.

A state police dispatcher at Houlton said the regional communications center there had received dozens of calls Wednesday morning from people inquiring about the smoke.

Meanwhile, on the Maine side of the border, fire activity was calm Wednesday. Beauchemin said that as of June 30, there had been 276 fires across the state that had burned 448 acres.

By comparison, during the same six-month period last year, there had been 540 fires that burned 2,000 acres.

Beauchemin said this year’s low fire rate is due to more moisture in ground fuels, where fires can easily start. He said recent rains of up to four inches in some parts of the state have helped keep the fire danger down.