The Bar Harbor Fire

1947 Fire in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island

The Bar Harbor fire shaped the future of Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island.

This 1947 fire in Acadia National Park (or what would become Acadia) ended the wealthy landowner era for good and cemented Acadia's future.

Caused by extreme drought, strong winds, and human carelessness, this horrible fire burned 17,000 acres over 2 weeks. To put it in perspective, that was the equivalent of one third of the forest on Mount Desert Island.

The fire caused extensive property damage... in fact, most of the famous summer cottages owned by the wealthy perished in the blaze. An era ended that year. The 1947 fire also changed the face of Acadia forever.

Weird Weather Set the Stage

You think weird weather patterns just started recently with all the talk about global warming, etc.? Well, I don't know much about the science, but it's a documented fact that the weather patterns throughout 1947 were pretty weird too.

Maine winters are long, cold, and snowy. Spring is always eagerly welcomed, and 1947 was no exception. World War II had recently ended, and everyone was looking forward to warm sunny days and renewal.

Unfortunately, it rained most of April, May, and June. But, at the end of June, the sun finally emerged from the clouds and a hot, glorious summer began.

But weather patterns continued to be weird throughout that year. All summer and into the fall, Maine only got about 50 percent of its normal rainfall levels. Plant life became bone dry. Water on the island hit an all time low.

However, most people didn't worry too much... they were sure rain would come sooner or later. And no one minded when the island enjoyed one of the most beautiful Indian summers in memory.

But, then the autumn rains never came! By the middle of October, the area was drier than anyone could ever remember. Conditions were ripe for a disastrous blaze. And it did come...

Fire!

What everyone on the island feared became reality on Friday, October 17, 1947. Around 4 p.m. that day, the Bar Harbor Fire Department fielded a call from a woman who said she'd seen smoke rising from a cranberry bog between her home and what is now Acadia National Park.

No one is sure what started the fire. It could have been cranberry pickers who often smoked cigarettes in the bog. Or, perhaps a trash fire at the dump suddenly got out of control.

Whatever the cause may have been, the fire somehow smoldered underground, perhaps for many hours before it was noticed. But, from this quiet beginning, arose a howling inferno that burned nearly half of the eastern side of Mount Desert Island and made international news. The map below shows the burned area in black.

In its first three days, the fire didn't seem so awful, burning only a small area, about 169 acres. But then on October 21, strong winds developed that fanned the flames out of control. It wasn't long before the blaze had engulfed more than 2,000 acres on the island.

Personnel from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, University of Maine forestry program, and Bangor Theological Seminary joined local firefighting crews in efforts to contain the blaze. National Park Service workers flew in to help from parks throughout the eastern US.

At one point, all roads from Bar Harbor were blocked by flames and local fisherman prepared to help get people off the island by boat as gale force winds continued to fan the inferno.

Finally, bulldozers were able to open a pathway through the flames and smoldering remains of homes and a caravan of 700 cars and 2,000 people made it to safety.

In total, some 17,188 acres burned. More than 8,000 acres were burned in Acadia National Park alone. Property damage exceeded $23 million in 1947 dollars.

And the fires didn't just occur around Bar Harbor that year. Statewide, more than 200,000 acres, 851 permanent homes, and 397 seasonal cottages were destroyed in what's been called "the year Maine burned."

As you drive through the park today, you can still see the evidence of the fire everywhere... in the barren slopes or new growth forest along the coast, where the fire was worst, in the absence of historical homes from the turn of the century, in the remaining deep woods of the inner island, which thankfully, escaped the blaze. It's quite amazing...

The Bar Harbor Fire of 1947 was truly a history-shaping event for Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park!

Read about how Acadia became a national park

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