When wildfires broke out in Maine 60 years ago, scattering spectacular blazes over 200,000 acres, firefighters and volunteers were quick to respond. They fought bravely, some with little more than a shovel or pick ax.

Information on the location and intensity of the fires was elusive, and it was not always clear who was in charge.

Sixty years later, fire prevention officials say, a wildfire would meet a much more organized foe, one fluent in technology, confident in training, and aware of the lessons of October 1947.

Early detection:

In 1947, people were slow to appreciate the danger caused by the three-month-long summer drought. According to the book “Wildfire Loose” by Joyce Butler, farmers, with their hands in the soil and an eye on their wells, realized how dry the land had become, but officials were slow to act. The Maine woods were finally closed to camping on Oct. 17, when the fires that would do the most damage were already burning.

A system put in place by the Maine Forest Service may avoid such an issue in the future. The forest service works closely with the National Weather Service, taking specific measurements at stations across the state in order to gauge the dryness of trees and the forest floor. The results are reported electronically and disseminated widely. On the state Web site, a classification system shows when and where it is appropriate to set a controlled fire. The results are also frequently reported on local newscasts. “We were amazed at how rapidly and accurately the word gets out to people,” said Kent Nelson of the Maine Forest Service.

If a fire did get going during a dry spell, Nelson said, it would not be long before it was found, either with information from a passerby with a cell phone or by one of the state’s frequent fire detection flights. As outdoor fires popped up during a dry season, he said, forest rangers would investigate each one, determining cause and damage, hoping to notice and extinguish a fire before it turned into a widespread problem.

Unified response:

If wildfires with the scale of those in 1947 were to happen today, state and local firefighters would be ready to perform an organized and comprehensive suppression, Nelson said. The forest service, experts in incident command and management, have trained local fire and rescue departments in the correct way to respond to an emergency, including issues related to chain of command. New technology in communication would allow firefighters spread over a large area to coordinate their attack.

One channel fits all:

As a result of the ’47 fire, a Maine State Fire Channel was created. While each department in the state has its own frequency for routine fires, firefighters would tune in to the statewide channel, with its frequency of 154.310, to communicate with each other during a statewide fire emergency. This would result in a more concerted firefighting effort.

Aerial attack:

The state could also throw its considerable firefighting resources at a large scale fire. There is a fleet of planes and helicopters ready to drop water on a fire, and if the blaze covers more than 2,000 acres, the state could use airtankers provided through a regional compact that could drop large amounts of water very efficiently, Nelson said.

Class A Foam:

Advances in the materials used to fight fires, such as Class A foam, would also aid modern efforts to supress a wildfire. According to Bridgton Fire Chief Glen Garland, foam is a combination of compressed air and water that is excellent for sticking to buidlings and suffocating fire.

Two kinds of foam can be used: wet and dry. Spraying “wet foam” on a structure will also help to blanket available oxygen causing the fire to extinguish itself more quickly. Garland said wet foam has small water bubbles that squirt water on a fire as they pop. The slow release also helps to extinguish any unseen embers below the surface.

“Dry Foam,” which has the consistency of shaving cream, can also be used to coat an unburned building in hopes of saving the structure.

Fire hose couplings:

During the 1947 fire, departments from all over the state hauled their hoses and engines to fires but soon found themselves unable to help because the equipment wasn’t compatible with other departments’ hoses.

“There were a lot of different thread patterns for hose ends back then. No one had the same pattern, which was a real problem,” said Garland. “Now, we don’t have those compatibility issues.”

Thermal imaging cameras:

In 1947, many of the fires burned underground. Firefighters thought they had extinguished a flame, only to see it rise hours later or hundreds of yards away. Today, there is technology to prevent such surprises.

The most recent technological breakthrough in firefighting came in the late 1990s with thermal imaging cameras. Bridgton’s Garland said the cameras are able to see through smoke, structures and underground to find “hot spots” that could reignite.