In West Paris it was a carelessly tossed cigarette.

In Rumford it was an unattended campfire.

Along with those two Oxford County fires, brush fires occurred in Greene, Weld and roughly 25 other locations over the weekend, according to Maine Forest Service Ranger Jim Downie.

“Fire doesn’t discriminate this time of year,” Downie said. “It will quickly travel from one person’s property to another.”

In recognition that April is prone to many brush fires, Gov. John E. Baldacci proclaimed the week of April 20-26 Forest Fire Awareness Week.

More fires were recorded on Patriot’s Day, according to the Department of Conservation. There was a 2.5-acre blaze in Leeds, a fire near the Hillside Cemetery in Stoneham and up to 15 acres burned in Winslow. A 3-acre grass fire was also reported in Frankfort and a small fire was extinguished in the morning in Wilton.

In Monmouth, there was a small grass fire in the afternoon behind a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall. Firefighters knocked it down in less than one hour. In Auburn, a quarter acre burned along Everett Road around 11 a.m.

And Monday night, firefighters in Sabattus were battling a fire in the Elm Street area.

So far in 2003 there have been 75 wildfires that have burned approximately 90 acres.

Downie cautioned that April and May are two very dangerous months for brush fires. He said people are fooled into thinking it is a safe time to burn because just a couple of weeks ago the possibility of floods was dominating weather reports.

He said the fire danger in Maine starts in the coastal and southern areas, where the snow dries first, and then the threat moves inland.

Downie said there were over 40 fires last week and more than that are expected this weekend.

“We’re highly combustible now because of a lot of dead vegetation,” Downie said. “There’s just no moisture, the temperatures are getting up there and the winds are increasing.”

He said ground cover – made wet by a morning rain – could easily be dry and in a dangerous burnable state by the afternoon. He said the state won’t “green up” enough to mitigate the current danger until the end of May.

Downie said Maine residents have had to get a permit to burn for the past 40 years and nothing has changed for 2003.

People must get a burn permit from the local forest warden or the town fire chief before burning. He added that having a burn permit does not release the permittee from responsibility.

“If your fire escapes you can be fined,” Downie said.

He said the forest service and community can seek damage costs from the fire, and originators of a fire can be sued.

He said 50 percent to 75 percent of the wild fires that occur in April and May are caused by fires that people lose control of, and cautioned that the liability is just too great to burn on days not permitted by authorities. He said it was best to wait until evening to burn because generally there was less wind, temperatures drop and there’s a little bit of dew.

Downie said it’s most dangerous to burn between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

He said based on current data, areas south of Rangeley are high on the fire danger list.

“It’s a privilege to have a burning permit,” Downie said. “But remember that a permit does not relieve you from liability.”