MEDWAY, Maine — A helpful wind and quick firefighter response kept a mobile home intact on Birch Street after burning ash from a wood stove ignited part of it on Monday. No injuries were reported, Fire Chief Jon Buckingham said.
The fire at 8 Birch St. burned less than 20 feet of grass very close to the rear of the mobile home with an attached room. It also began melting some plastic siding. Firefighters suspect that ash that escaped from a wood stove pipe ignited it, but they weren’t sure of where it escaped the pipe, Buckingham said.
“Luckily for us the wind is working in our favor today,” Buckingham said, “and that we were able to get here quickly. The first line was on the fire pretty quickly.”
Homeowner Tim Pasanen said he was in the woods in the back of the property when he heard his wife yelling about the fire. He doused it with a combination of water and by putting a tarp on it, he said.
Had the wind blown the fire back onto the house, or more powerfully toward the woods just north of the house, “we would have been here all night trying to get the fire contained,” Buckingham said. Mattawamkeag and East Millinocket firefighters also came to the scene, while Millinocket and Sherman firefighters were en route when firefighters on-scene got the fire under control, Buckingham said.
Medway’s fire danger rating for Monday was 4. According to the National Fire Danger Rating System, that means that fires “can start easily from all causes and immediately after ignition, spread rapidly and increase quickly in intensity. Spot fires are a constant danger.” Medway firefighters banned all permitted outdoor burning due to the lack of rain and wind gusts of about 12 mph.
The homeowner called to report the fire at about 1:15 p.m., Buckingham said.