Firefighters and forest rangers scrambled to douse 24-30 grass fires burning as much as 1½ acres along Interstate 95 from Carmel to Sherman on Tuesday that investigators say began with solder falling into a bin.
Burning bits of plywood, solder and other debris found along the road caused investigators to suspect that some sort of bin had been cut down with a blowtorch to fit under highway overpasses on the back of a flatbed tractor-trailer truck and that solder from the job had ignited debris, Maine Forest Service Lt. Jeff Currier said.
The burning trash then blew out onto the road and ignited the dry grass as the truck headed north. Currier called the incident one of the strangest sets of fires he has ever seen.
“At first we had heard that there were some on the southbound side [of the highway], and we thought we had some arsonist playing games,” Currier said Tuesday.
Most of the fires were confined to the northbound side of the highway, but some apparently burned in the median and also along Route 2 in Carmel, Currier said. The distance involved appears to be about 90 miles along I-95.
Maine State Police and Maine Forest Service rangers had stopped a truck in Oakfield as of about 4:45 p.m. they said inadvertently may have caused the fires, Currier said. He said he believed the truck was headed from Troy to somewhere in Aroostook County. He was unsure whether the driver would face charges.
“Nothing comes to mind initially for what one might charge somebody with,” Currier said.
The incident began for police and rangers at about 1:30 p.m. with a report of a fire on Route 2 in Carmel, which investigators say the truck used, Currier said. Soon after came a report of a fire in Lincoln along I-95.
The connection between the Carmel fires and the others remains somewhat tenuous, Currier said, but investigators have no doubts that the fires in Lincoln and farther north came from the same cause.
“It didn’t take us long to figure it out once we got to Lincoln,” Currier said. “You could just see them one behind the other.”
Most of the fires occurred north of Lincoln and appeared to burn small areas, though one likely torched about 1½ acres, he said. At least six forest rangers and a ranger helicopter equipped with a water bucket fought the flames. Several fire departments that patrol the highway also responded, Currier said.
Currier asked anyone who saw a truck causing fires along I-95 between 1:30 and 4 p.m. Tuesday on I-95 in the northbound lane to call investigators at 827-1800.
It is not unusual for strings of fires to be caused by vehicles riding the interstate, particularly in dry or hot weather. The usual culprits are overheated brake shoes, catalytic converters and items such as chains dragging behind vehicles causing sparks, Currier said.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like these,” he said.
“It speaks a little bit to the dryness we are starting to have and some of the strange but true fires that we have had that this happened,” Currier said. “We are not in any dire drought or anything like that, but it is summertime in Maine and we do have fires in this state. If we have a period where there are 10 to 14 days without significant rain, this is what typically happens.”
The problem with such fires, Currier said, is they could smolder for hours.
“We could have one starting even as we speak,” he said.
Maine State Police and Maine Forest Service rangers had stopped a truck in Oakfield as of about 4:45 p.m. they said inadvertently may have caused the fires, Currier said.
Let me guess, murders get slaps on the hands, and yeah a fire is pretty severe so, let me guess, if this is the driver, charges would be Arson, Leaving the scene of a crime, failing to report a crime, go to jail, bail at 10k, if found guilty facing 20 years.
If this is a tourist, an apology for wasting their time will be made and we will tell them to please come back anytime.
It’s not a crime if you had no idea you were doing it! I highly doubt this person did this on purpose!
That would be the common sense way for the law to operate, but that is not the case. Hence the addition of the term ‘negligent’ to some criminal charges.
negligent usually means “didnt know, but should have known” i dont think negligence applies here
Truck drivers have to make checks of their equipment and load. He should have known and would have had he checked his load.
The tourist line was intent to conclude the sarcasm, I am not saying the person intentionally did it but I will be surprised if this does not get blown out of proportion
Good point.
Murders getting a slap on the wrist? No he should get a fine if it was cause by him throwing a Butt out the window. But if it was just stuff caused by the car then I do not think with will get blown out of proportion.
Good thing we have a lot of green and Maine has had a lot of rain lately. This could have been a lot worse.
If this had happened 2 years ago we’d be in trouble….Lucky its been a damp summer
Looks like things are starting to dry out! A couple weeks ago the fires wouldn’t have even started. Great job rangers and everyone involved!
Solder? You mean slag, don’t ya. You get slag when using a cutting torch, you use solder when plumbing
Or electronics, etc but yeah you’re right. I think the phrase “solder” it more recognized, hence the misuse of it.
That’s what I thought when I read the article. It’s a minor point but still confusing to those who know the difference.
First thing. Looking to charge someone?Anyone ever heard of an accident? Ease up. Any damage will be taken care of by an insurance company or the trucking company. It’s called an accident. I doubt a truck driver was trying to set the whole State of Maine on Fire.
There must of been cars an trucks passing this person did they see any smoke ??
I’m looking at you Miss-throw-my-lit-cigarette-butt-out-the-window. You know who you are, because you’re probably reading this post right now.
We can thank LePage for these fires. Normally every year the grass has been mowed along the highways. This year however due to LePage lack of financing the highways look like something from the mid 70’s during the fuel embargo.
Take notice people. There will be more of these before winter.
Well, at least the fuel that burned yesterday is gone. You can also thank Lepage for that.
You must be traveling a diiferent Interstate then I have, the grass has been this way for quite a few years. Unless your talking about the Augusta area or Northern Mass around Portland.
There was a similar string of fires along I-295 south of Gardiner about a month ago.
That should save the state some money on mowing. Not that they have been doing much of that. Have you seen the height of the grass?
‘Driving to endanger’ is still a valid charge, is it not?
Ummm no not in this case hahaha