MAINE, USA — A host of wildfires broke out across Maine Friday amid windy and dry weather.
The Maine Forest Rangers reported Friday night there were wildfires and open burns that got out of control in 18 communities: Anson, Hodgdon, Brownville, Orneville, Township, Whiting, Manchester, Kenduskeag, Greenwood, Wiscasset, Staceyville, Deer Isle, Albion, Sangerville, Sumner, Oakfield, Fairfield, Clinton, and Woodville.
The Orneville fire spread across 8.5 acres, the rangers said.
Though there's been a lot of rain this spring, moisture levels have been low recently for "fine fuels" like grass, needles, and small twigs that can easily catch fire, the rangers said in a Facebook post.
"These fuels dry out very rapidly in direct sunlight, with light winds and with low relative humidity," the rangers said. "Fires in these fuels start easily, burn intensely and spread rapidly."
Fire danger was categorized as "high" for most of the state Friday. A fire broke out at a hotel in Augusta Friday morning.
"The relative humidity in most parts of the state (except the coast) is decent now, but was pretty low for most of the week," NEWS CENTER Maine meteorologist Dana Osgood said. "The wind speeds in northern Maine are gusting to about 25 mph, which is pretty good for fueling fires. The soil moisture right at the surface (like brush and such) is dry because of the lack of rain this week."
The fire danger will lessen temporarily for some parts of the state Saturday.
"This weekend we will get rain along the coast, which will essentially put an end to any fires there since we're looking at least a few hours of steady rainfall," Osgood said. "Inland this won't help as much because they won't see as much rain. Still, the relative humidity will likely rise because of that change in airmass. However, it will still be breezy both days this weekend (and straight up windy on Monday) and since we will dry out pretty quickly Sunday into the beginning of next week, we may see fire danger increase in inland areas until about the middle of next week."
Here's the latest forecast: