ROCKLAND — The odds of Rockland Fire determining the cause of a small burn, Friday, along a Harbor Trail embankment of vegetation and flower garden is slim, according to Asst. Chief Adam Miceli. Unless somebody saw something. 

At approximately 5:30 p.m., as afternoon temperatures peaked to 55 degrees on a windy day, April 23, Rockland Fire and EMS received simultaneous calls from Knox Regional Communications Center. One was a medical call, prompting half of the four-person duty crew to take an ambulance in one direction. The other two B-shift personnel headed in the opposite direction, to a parking lot on Water Street, where they expected to find a tree and a powerline on fire, as was reported to them by dispatchers.

Instead, “we were a little surprised to find a whole 30 or 40-foot section of garden and fencing on fire,” he said. 

With the assistance of five more off-duty and call-shift crew members, firefighters spent approximately an hour saturating shallow beds of vegetation that had not been well maintained, according to Miceli. Sparks glowed within beds of cedar trees and rose bushes. Between the two levels of ground, lattice work trapped leaves. Those very dry leaves then caught fire. On the upper level, the fence and railings burned in an approximate 20-foot section. 

“There was so much stuff there, in that area, that it would be impossible to tell [the cause],” said Miceli.

In order to get to the flames, firefighters cut through portions of fencing and sprayed water down from above, as well as up from below. Firefighters used shovels and rakes to get the water down deep, to prevent smolder.

Between the wind and the lack of rain today, April 23, the fire department considers the current fire danger level to be high, based on their local conditions reports.

“It was super dry,” he said. “And the wind helped to spread it very quickly.”

Rockland Fire did not close their system to permit requests today, but no one asked for a permit, either, according to Miceli.