The Great Fires of 1947

The Great Fires of 1947 were a series of forest fires in the State of Maine in the United States that destroyed a total area of 17,188 acres (6,956 ha) of wooded land on Mount Desert Island and 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) statewide. Collectively, the fires killed a total of 16 people. This disaster is an important part of the local history of the York County and Mount Desert Island areas.

After a wet spring, in which the months of April, May and June were inundated with rainy weather, the climate turned to drought condition in mid July 1947. By the end of September, the ground was extremely dry. State and local officials, recognizing the dangers of the dry conditions, began implementing preventative measures such as informing the public to have their chimneys cleaned. By the second week of October, the state was in a Class 4 state of danger, meaning: "high state of inflammability." Fire watch towers, normally closed at the end of September, were reopened by the State Forest Service. By October 19, many communities in Maine breathed air filled with a smokey haze and the smell of burning wood.

Reports of small fires in woods began coming into the Forest Service on October 7. These early fires burned in Portland, Bowdoin and Wells. Being 30 miles (48 km) apart from each other, these three fires illustrated the danger. After this, reports of fires poured in, and by October 16, 20 separate fires were burning in the state.

Hardest hit was northern York County, the southern-most county in the state. Fires began in the towns of Shapleigh and Waterboro, destroying both communities, including,with only a few exceptions,most homes. The fires swept through the forests, and moved with the wind toward the ocean. In addition to Waterboro and Shapleigh, the towns of Alfred, Lyman, Newfield, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, North Kennebunkport (now Arundel), Dayton, Wells, and the cities of Biddeford and Saco were devastated by fire. With the exception of Shapleigh and Waterboro, most town centers were saved through the tireless work of firefighters, most notably Goodwins Mills in the eastern corner of Lyman, where due in part to a change in wind direction, only the center was saved, and all of the acreage around it burned to the ground.

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