PORTLAND, Maine - The Maine Forest Service has issued a "red flag" warning for wildfires until 8 o'clock tonight for several counties. Washington, Hancock, Southern Penobscot and Southern Piscataquis Counties.
That means danger of wildfires is very high in those areas, which include Washington and Hancock counties, and southern Penobscot and southern Piscataquis counties.
Forest Service spokesman Kent Nelson says the danger comes from a combination of warm temperatures, high winds and low humidity. And he says it comes at a time of year when people are looking to burn brush.
"They want to clean up their yards; they've had a lot of windstorms, and they want to clean that up," he says. "So we encourage people to clean up their yards but we urge people to hold off on burning their brush piles until we get some significant rain."
He says that's likely to be early next week. Nelson also says with school vacation starting, parents should warn kids against playing with, or starting, fires.
