Midcoast Wood Bank Executive Director Bruce Wildes (left) operates the wood splitting machine with the wood bank’s Vice President Tony DiMarco during the open house in Topsham on Sept. 14. Paul Bagnall / The Times Record

A Topsham-based wood bank is working to form a nonprofit that would primarily focus on consolidating the dozen current wood banks in the state to cut costs and improve its ability to provide firewood across the state.

Last Saturday, a group of retired volunteers helped process, sort and stack firewood at the wood bank in Topsham on as part of the open house for the Midcoast Wood Bank. The charitable organization distributes free firewood to people who would otherwise struggle to heat their homes.

Midcoast Wood Bank covers Brunswick, Bath, Harpswell, Woolwich, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Topsham and Lisbon. According to Bruce Wildes, the wood bank’s executive director, there are roughly 11 other wood banks Maine and around 30 across New England. Demand for wood has increased over the years, with 13% of households — excluding rentals — burning wood as a primary source of heat, Wildes said. The rising price of home heating oil and other fossil fuels has also prompted more people to look to alternative heating sources when times get tough. Nearly 11% of Mainers live below the poverty line, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.

Midcoast Wood Bank is in the midst of applying for nonprofit status, a designation it would use to try to bring the state’s other wood banks under one umbrella.

Wood banks have operated in the state individually with their own insurance policies, but Midcoast Wood Bank would create a single insurance policy to help reduce the costs of operating existing wood banks and starting new ones. That includes the one being pursued in Freeport by Tony DiMarco, the vice president of operations for Midcoast Wood Bank.

Midcoast Wood Bank volunteers Mike Pacheco (left) works to stack wood with Nate Bowditch during the open house held in Topsham on Sept. 14. Paul Bagnall / The Times Record

Insurance can be pricey for these organizations, as volunteers are using chainsaws, moving full-length logs and operating heavy equipment, among other dangers.

The consolidation also helps reduce the time and funding it takes to start a wood bank. Equipment like a tractors, trailers and splitters could be shared among three or four different wood banks at a time.

“It’s a bit of a daunting task to start a new wood bank in a community, and if you think about where the wood banks are located in Maine, they are typically coastal communities,” DiMarco said. “There’s a combination of wealth and need.”

Midcoast Wood Bank has built up an inventory of 25 cords from last year through private donations. This year’s inventory goal is to supply up to 50 cords to continue building a stock for next year. Donations generally come from trees that have fallen or been damaged in the aftermath of storms. Some tree service companies, contractors and municipalities will also donate logs to the cause.

A cord of wood — usually measured by stacking wood in a line 8 feet long, 4 feet tall and 4 feet wide — costs between $300 and $500 in Maine, depending on the time of year, where the wood is purchased and whether the wood is green, seasoned or kiln-dried. Wildes said that depending on the size of a home and whether the wood is the primary or secondary source of heat, Maine homeowners require four to eight cords of wood to get through the colder months. Getting a home through the winter can be expensive, but it can be cheaper than keeping the oil tank full.

Midcoast Wood Bank provides temporary fuel assistance with up to two cords of wood for homes that use wood as the primary or secondary heating source for the winter. Starting this year, people can schedule an appointment through the fall to pick up the wood at the Midcoast Wood Bank at 505 River Road in Topsham.

Midcoast Wood Bank is looking for volunteers to help with the bank’s inventory during the fall. Volunteers can help with tasks like sorting and stacking wood, operating machines or running the splitter.

“It’s challenging because you never know how many people you are going to have here on a Saturday,” DiMarco said. ” … The hardest part of maintaining the flow with the wood bank is getting enough volunteers on a weekly basis.”