By Drew Johnson
Portland Press Herald
SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Firefighters combating a small brush fire in Scarborough on Wednesday encountered traps apparently placed by someone to protect their belongings in an area frequented by unhoused people.
The fire took place “within a transient encampment,” the Maine Forest Service said.
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Fire crews responded early Wednesday afternoon to reports of smoke coming from the woods off Holmes Road in the area of Bridges Drive, near Interstate 95.
As crews arrived, a person who has game cameras in the area called to warn first responders of traps on the land, John Brennan, Scarborough’s deputy fire chief, said in a phone interview.
“They had dug some small holes in an effort to protect the belongings they had out there,” Brennan said, along with other items intended to “deter someone from going in there.”
No firefighters were injured by the traps, Brennan said.
“We just used caution, made sure we were paying attention to what was on the ground, and we were able to extinguish the fire,” he said.
The fire was contained to a roughly 25-by-25-foot area, he said, and the Maine Forest Service has taken over and is investigating the cause.
The fire “occurred within a transient encampment,” Terri Teller, a Maine forest ranger and fire prevention specialist, said in an email Wednesday evening.
Brennan also noted unhoused people are known to frequent the area.
The cause is still under investigation, Teller said.
Fire danger in southern Maine was high Wednesday amid weeks of elevated risk because of an ongoing drought.
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