BROOKSVILLE — In Brooksville on Tuesday July 7, the town’s volunteer firefighters, property managers, contractors, arborists and other interested community members are scheduled to learn how to identify and reduce the risk that wildfire presents for homes located in heavily wooded areas with years of accumulated forest floor debris.
After 90 minutes of classroom training in the morning, participants will drive from the Town House to three homes nearby on Cape Rosier. Each home illustrates a different level of wildfire risk.
At each location, Kent Nelson, forest ranger specialist and community wildfire/fuel reduction coordinator for the Maine Forest Service, will show the home’s owners what they can do around the exterior of their homes to increase their resilience to wildfire. Rising outdoor temperatures, drought and stronger winds have accentuated wildfire risk in Maine.
Individuals who wish to participate are invited to email Debbie Grimmig at dgrimmig@myfairpoint.net. Participants are encouraged to bring a bag lunch to the morning session to facilitate proceeding to the field trip. The event is a rain-or-shine event.
A videographer will join the day’s events and produce a video for future training purposes. A free on-line training class with certificate is available at NVFC Learning: Wildland Fire Assessment Program. The online training will be especially helpful when taken prior to the day’s events but is not a requirement to participate.
The training and demonstrations are offered free of charge through the Blue Hill Peninsula Community Wildfire Protection Plan now under development in Blue Hill, Brooklin, Brooksville Castine, Deer Isle, Isle au Haut, Penobscot, Sedgwick, Stonington and Surry.
The towns have engaged SWCA Environmental Consultants, based in Scarborough, to guide data gathering, community engagement and risk assessment.
By the end of 2026, SWCA plans to present to the select boards of the 10 towns a set of recommendations that the towns can decide to implement. Completion of a wildfire protection plan qualifies towns to seek implementation funding from the US Department of Agriculture’s Community Wildfire Defense Grant program administered by the US Forest Service.
The Blue Hill Peninsula Community Wildfire Protection Plan is funded by a grant from the Department of Agriculture – US Forest Service, pursuant to $250,000 of Congressionally Directed Spending secured by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King. The Maine Forest Service, a part of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, has been adding staff support to the planning process. In addition, the Island Institute provided $10,000 to support Isle au Haut’s participation.
Contact: Allen Kratz, Project Administrator Team, at allenwkratz@gmail.com or 201-214-7476.