SEARSMONT — Firefighters, Maine Forest Service rangers and a State Prison Hot Shot firefighting crew continue to work Friday on what has now become a stubborn woods fire in Searsmont.

"Ranger Dan Skillin, who has been on scene since yesterday, said it's a really hot fire, more typical of the kind we see in late summer than spring," said Fire Prevention Specialist Kent Nelson of the Maine Forest Service Friday afternoon.

Dubbed the "Jackson Road Fire" because of its location between Jackson, Choate and New England roads on the western edge of Searsmont, downed limbs, scrub, stumps and trees were discovered burning late Thursday afternoon.

A call to 911 around 4:45 p.m. sent firefighters from the towns of Liberty, Montville and Morrill to assist Searsmont with the fire.

According to Tracy Harford of Searsmont Fire Department, when he arrived on scene at the end of the rutted, dirt Jackson Road, fire was everywhere.

"This is where the fire started," said Harford, standing in a blackened, dusty area of what appeared to be previously harvested woods Friday morning. Where Harford and other firefighters were congregated was the command center for checking firefighters in and out, fire scene communications and directing resources. Further back at the intersection of Choate Road, Knox and Waldo Emergency Management Agency units were set up to restrict public access and provide communication outside the immediate fire scene.

"This is where we started fighting the fire yesterday, and the flames were jumping from tree to tree. I had a couple of guys back behind some trees and I was keeping an eye on them, and at one point I had to move them out for their safety," said Harford.

Harford said the land involved is owned by Glenn Jackson and Robbins Lumber, and that for a time Thursday Jackson was unaccounted for.

"He eventually came out. He had been in the woods somewhere with an Indian tank trying to put it out," said Harford.

Thursday was a "red flag day" statewide, meaning that there was a high risk for wildfires due to temperatures in the upper 80s Fahrenheit, relative low humidity, gusty winds and a lack of rain. Adding to the potential powder keg was very little new, green growth and plenty of dry overwintered fuel in the form of leaves, dry grass, pine needles, bark, etc.

Thursday was also the fourth straight red flag day, which the Forest Service designated a Class 4 "Very High" predicted fire danger day. Friday remains a Class 4 day, but the red flag warning was dropped, due to cooler temperatures.

According to Waldo County EMA Director Dale Rowley, one area of the woods was still burning "pretty good" Friday morning.

"The Forest Service did a flyover and determined this morning the fire had burned 59 acres," said Rowley. "They will walk it once it is finally put out to come up with a more precise figure."

Later in the day Friday, Nelson said that incident commanders Skillin and James Ames, Searsmont's fire chief, had walked the perimeter with a GPS and found 46 acres burned as of about 2 p.m.

In addition to dozens of firefighters working on the ground to extinguish the fire Thursday evening, two Forest Service helicopters flew over on multiple passes and dropped 240-gallon buckets of water at a time onto the fire.

Harford said water came from Stearns Brook, a nearby stream and a bog and other sources of standing water.

Nelson said the helicopter's work Thursday was hampered by poor visibility, as the fire raced through a lot of softwood stands, kicking up plumes of thick, black smoke as they erupted in fire.

The tough, rugged terrain made it all but impossible to bring anything but four-wheelers in close to the fires to deliver equipment. That means firefighters had to drag hoses by hand, don 40-pound 5-gallon-capacity Indian tanks to carry water in on their backs and sling hand tools over their shoulders and walk in on foot.

Since excavators and other large equipment could not be brought in without getting stuck in the muck, the work to dig up the ground to find and extinguish the fire below ground had to be done with pickaxes and shovels and other hand tools.

"The fire got down into the duff, which is the organic layer composed of decaying leaves and small needles and we don't usually see that in the spring," said Nelson. "Instead, we are used to grass fires, which burn fast and go out right away, but the dry ground and the fact that this area has probably not had a fire in a long time all can be factors. The ranger said it was also tough going because of the density of the area."

Late Friday morning, the winds were helping as they had shifted and were pushing the remaining hot spots and fire back toward areas that had already burned. The cooler temperatures had also raised the humidity and moisture levels, said Nelson.

But at about 3 p.m., there were reports that the remaining fire to the east of the end of Jackson Road had flared up again.

"The situation now is that we have a ballpark 55 percent containment," said Harford at 4 p.m. "It flared back up and the helicopter was called back in to help us."

Harford said the current plan is to keep working until 8 p.m. Friday, and then reconvene at 6 a.m. Saturday at the incident command post off Choate Road.

"We have lost some people who have been here today working, but we still have the prison Hot Shot crew out here going and some others are still here and we will keep at it until tonight," said Harford.

As for what caused this fire, Nelson said at this stage it remains under investigation though they have determined the fire was started by human element as opposed to a lighting strike or sparks from a passing train, as a railway does not exist in the area.

Related story:

• Large woods fire fought on the ground, in the air in Searsmont Thursday