Firefighters battle a woods fire April 18 in Monmouth. Fire Chief Dan Roy said it was spotted by a Maine Forest Service helicopter, which dropped five buckets of water on the area to help extinguish it. Courtesy of Monmouth Fire Department

MONMOUTH — A series of fires in and around Monmouth in recent days drew a response from about 50 firefighters and a Maine Forest Service helicopter, illustrating the high risk of fire around Maine.

A fire burned about 7 acres in multiple spots along a stretch of railroad track about a half-mile into the woods off Main Street on Friday afternoon, requiring firefighters to carry their gear on their backs or on ATVs and UTVs to get to the scene.

The fire was likely started by a train that came through shortly before the fire was reported, Monmouth Fire Chief Dan Roy said. It was spotted by a Maine Forest Service helicopter pilot who Roy said was likely in the air assisting in other wildfires elsewhere.

A dispatcher contacted the rail operator, CSX, to ensure no other trains came along while firefighters were on the tracks.

“The helicopter came back and did five bucket drops of water, which helped, as at one point one of the fires had spread into the wood line, up a hill near an old orchard, and if the fire had gotten in there, three or four homes would have been threatened,” Roy said. “But we were able to stop it, about 75 feet before it would have gotten into the orchard.”

About 44 firefighters responded from Monmouth, Leeds, Wales, Green, Sabattus and Winthrop and had the fire under control in about three hours.

On Sunday, the fire danger was so high due to windy and dry conditions that the National Weather Service issued a “red flag warning” in parts of Maine, advising against any outdoor fires.

Maine Forest Service rangers responded Sunday to numerous wildfires, including in Auburn, Lewiston, Ogunquit, Caribou, Kittery, Concord Township, Boothbay, Litchfield, Dixmont, Jonesport, Corinth, Skowhegan, Dresden, Richmond, Dover-Foxcroft and York.

The Maine Forest Service’s fire danger website listed the fire danger risk Monday as “high.”

Sunday was also the first day of Maine’s annual Wildfire Awareness Week.

Roy said it’s typical for the fire danger to be high this time of year, because everything is drying out from the winter and there’s lots of dead, dry vegetation on the ground that can provide fuel.

Monmouth firefighters responded to four calls Sunday, two of which were trees that had fallen on lines that sparked small fires.

Around 11:30 a.m. Sunday a fire was reported near Cochnewagon Lake on Bailey Lane, off Robinson Drive, which is off Packard Road.

Firefighters arrived to find a shed engulfed in flames and fire was “everywhere on the ground, and spreading in multiple directions, toward seasonal camps,” Roy said. The property is owned by Dawn Flagg and James Cassidy.

He said he was able to extinguish another fire within five feet of a propane tank at an adjacent camp.

The fire was started by utility lines that crossed and touched each other, he said. About a half-acre of land burned.

While picking up after that fire and loading firetrucks, Monmouth firefighters were called around 1 p.m. to assist at a garage fire on Little Purgatory Pond in Litchfield. A garage was destroyed but the main dwelling at the property was saved.