Mower Sparks Fire That Burns 12 Acres on a Mapleton Farm

A wind-whipped grass fire on a Mapleton farm Monday afternoon charred about 12 acres of land by the time it was contained.  

Firefighters from Mapleton, Washburn and Presque Isle worked for about two hours to bring the blaze under control on property owned by Lucerne Farms.

A spokesman for the Maine Forest Service said a worker on a tractor was mowing a hayfield around 1:30 p.m., when the mower blade struck a rock, creating a spark.  This ignited a layer of dry grass underneath the new growth. The tractor operator tried to put out the fire but gusting winds caused it to spread quickly throughout the field.

A forest service helicopter provided aerial surveillance but no water drops were required, as crews on the ground were able to extinguish the fire.

This was the second grass fire at Lucerne Farms this month.  The first one, on July 6, burned about one acre.