ROCKPORT — The wind picked up on a hot August afternoon, Aug. 27, and on a hill in West Rockport, embers from a brush fire spread onto a surrounding blueberry field, moving quickly through the dry leaves and juniper bushes. Rockport firefighters responded, and with Indian tanks on their backs and rakes in hand, they went to work containing the fire.

“The fire was moving up the hill toward the horse barn when we got there,” said Rockport Fire Chief Jason Peasley. “We were able to contain it quickly.”

Fourteen firefighters, three firetrucks and the town’s Smokey Jeep responded  to the top of Barrett Drive after the appeal for help arrived at Knox County Regional Communications Center in Rockland soon after noontime.

On Aug. 26, a hiker along the Lily Pond trail, which runs from Rockport Village alongside Aldermere Farm, discovered a smoldering fire near and in the trees. Ranger Scott Maddox, of the Maine Forest Service, and Rockport Fire Chief Jason Peasley investigated the site Aug. 27, concluding that a series of small campfires had been set along the trail. The most severe fire remained burning for several days, extending into the roots of the trees, said Peasley. Rockport firefighters were on the trail Tuesday putting up signs prohibiting fires there.

Greg and Levi Rollins were first on the scene, as was Peasley and Maine State Forester Scott Maddox, who was in Rockport on an unrelated visit (see sidebar). The fire was quickly spreading its perimeter, extending in multiple directions. Rollins said the initial crew jumped on the fire’s uphill climb and contained it.

According Peasley, the landowner had obtained a fire permit online from the Maine State Forest Service and read it as allowing fires between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., when, in fact, the permit conditions allowed burning from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m.

“Unfortunately, the wind picked up,” said Peasley.

Today, Aug. 27, the Maine Forest Service predicted Class Fire Danger for the coastal region of Kittery to West Penobscot Bay is Moderate Class 2. It is legal to burn on a Class 1 and Class 2 day.

The bigggest concern for Rockport firefighters in West Rockport were the dry juniper bushes that lay in the path of the fire. In total, Peasley said the crew used approximately 500 gallons of water to extinguish the fire.

He said Maddox had issued a warning to the individuals burning there for violating permit conditions.

Later in the afternoon, Rockport firefighters were also called to Maritime Farms gas station on Route 1 for a small fire in flower bed mulch there. The fire started by spontaneous combustion and was also quickly extinguished after Camden Police Officer Brooke Hartshorn discovered it. She initially attempted to put it out but it had grown too big and the fire department was called.

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 706-6657.