This story appears as part of a collaboration to strengthen investigative journalism in Maine between the BDN and The Maine Monitor. Read more about the partnership .

When a campfire jumped its ring near a remote northern Maine lake last month, it took Maine forest rangers five days of ferrying resources by boat and digging away vegetation around the resulting four-acre blaze to stop its spread.

Just a few weeks later, rangers returned to the area by helicopter, canoe and foot to douse a cluster of escaped campfires before they reached the surrounding 100 Mile Wilderness.

Campfires and open burns were two of the primary causes of wildfires this August, when Maine saw more wildfires than in any other August over the last 20 years, according to the Maine Forest Service.

What m

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