On July 28, on the lawn of the Sprucewold Lodge dining room, Maine Forest Service Ranger Kent Nelson took time from his day off to come over from West Gardiner and talk with the residents of Sprucewold about being a Firewise Community. He also seized upon the occasion to present the Sprucewold Firewise Community Award to members of the Firewise Board. Earlier in the day he visited with the folks from Juniper Point to talk about the program.

The owners of the Sprucewold Lodge, Richard and Dana Pizer, graciously offered the setting for the presentation of the Firewise Community Award that was granted last December. The difficulty of getting everyone’s schedule together for the presentation was finally overcome. Attending presentation were Curt Norred, the Firewise Community Board president; Glenn Townsend, retiring Boothbay Harbor Fire Chief; Nick Upham, Asst. Fire Chief; and Kent Nelson, Maine Forestry Service Ranger. Also present for the presentation were Jim Powers, Sprucewold Firewise Board member; Ralph Kimball, Sprucewold Improvement Association president, and several other Sprucewold residents. Chiefs Townsend and Upham are also board members of the Sprucewold Firewise Board along with Selectman J. D. Warren.

The award was in recognition for the efforts put forth by the residents of Sprucewold, the Maine Forest Service, the Boothbay Harbor Fire Department, Boothbay Harbor Public Works Department, and many others to mitigate the dangers of wildfires and structural fires. Also improving the accessibility last winter to firefighting equipment and EMT was extremely important to the residents.  Roads were repaved and hard shoulders added, and recently a washed out bridge has been removed and the roadway made wider to handle a fire truck crossing.

A very large part of mitigating the fire danger has been the annual chipping day to remove potential wildfire fuels and create Defensible Zones around the residences.  This year’s chipping day is slated for August 17, and Norred is asking for volunteers to lend a hand for a couple of hours. The MFS has conducted a Risk Assessment and assigned through a point system the designation of High Risk to the Sprucewold Community.  

Adding to the risk is the absence of year-round water with fire hydrants and no availability to bodies of water for firefighting. Chief Townsend and Asst. Chief Upham proposed a surface line from the fire hydrant at the old Pines Motel location could provide fast access to town water and help in getting water on a fire quickly. Other ideas were discussed and sites were plotted by Ranger Nelson. As part of the Award Presentation, Ranger Nelson provided signs to be erected which will show the daily fire danger as taken from a website of the MFS.