Runnals fire burns almost an acre

Last Friday night at around 11 p.m., a fire ignited on Runnals Hill that would take more than two hours to be fully extinguished and would burn a little under an acre of land. 

James Lane `24, a resident of Mary Low, was walking to Foss when he and his friends spotted the fire. Lane claims his friend Joseph Savage `22 was the first to call Colby Security, who then called the Waterville Fire Department. 

“When I saw the fire, I turned and walked up the hill, and there were two security vehicles there at about 11:15 p.m.,” Lane said. “It wasn’t that small when I first saw it, but it was definitely going. It wasn’t the trees burning, but the bushes and underbrush, all the dry stuff.”

For the past few weeks, Maine has been experiencing a moderate to severe drought. According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, the Waterville area in particular is currently experiencing a severe drought, allowing fires like the one in Runnals to start very easily and spread incredibly quickly.

Rodney Alderman, the Incident Commander for the Waterville Fire Department on the night of the fire, told The Colby Echo in an interview that they received a call about the fire at 11:21 p.m. through Colby Security, who reported that it was a minor grass fire headed towards the woods. 

“We dispatched one engine and a fire company,” Alderman said. “When they arrived on scene, he radioed back that the fire was bigger than reported and requested additional apparatus and more manpower. So that brought a second engine to the scene. We also had to call out a tanker from Oakland for additional water, as we had run out of water.”

Several students responded to and helped with the fire, including Alexa Peterkin `21 and Lane, who helped coordinate the emergency response vehicles. Other Colby personnel including the Dean of Students also helped evacuate students out of Dana as a precaution while the fire was  still ongoing.  

“After the fire trucks showed up, I walked up to a firefighter, and he seemed to be coordinating things, so I asked if I could help and he said yes,” Lane said. “They told me to go down to the gate on Runnals and direct vehicles up to the fire. So I did that for a couple of hours, until 1:30 or 2 a.m.” 

Much of the reason why the area took so long to be cleared was the amount of debris and decaying material on the ground coupled with the extremely dry conditions. 

“Everything was extremely dry in there,” Alderman said of the Runnals woods. 

“We were actually lucky, as there were a lot of branches that were very close to the ground. If fire had caught those branches we would have had fire in the trees, which is much harder to put out.”

After the fire was extinguished, the Maine Forest Service was contacted to come and investigate, but their findings were inconclusive. Alderman, however, says that there was likely a human element involved, whether accidental or on purpose. 

“Be very careful,” Alderman said, addressing Colby students. “If you’re going into the woods to smoke, please don’t throw your cigarette butts - or whatever else you might be smoking - on the ground. Don’t light off fireworks. Not only will you start a fire but you could get into disciplinary issues with the school. We are getting some rain this week, that should help, but the ground is so dry it’ll soak that rain right up.”

Both the College and theWaterville Fire Department are continuing their investigations into the source of the fire. Students with any information on the fire should contact Dean of Students Barbara Moore at bemoore@colby.edu. 

~ Sarah Warner `21