Augusta firefighters spent more than an hour Thursday battling a woods fire on an island in Little Togus Pond.

The fire, which erupted on the third island south of the South Belfast Avenue causeway, was reported a little after 1 p.m., said Augusta Fire Battalion Chief Jason Farris. Nine firefighters went to the island by boat and spent about 90 minutes digging and pumping water from the pond to extinguish the blaze.

Farris said the fire burned about a half acre. No structures were damaged.

The fire was contained within 30 minutes, but flames continued to burn in a thick layer of pine needles, Farris said. Wind gusts continued to reignite the fire.

“It was a lot of digging,” he said.

A forest ranger was unable to determine how the fire started, Farris said.

Copy the Story Link