The Lamoine Quaterly - October 2004

New Fire & Rescue Truck Under Construction

(Lamoine) — The chassis has arrived in Island Falls, Maine and construction starts soon on the rest of Lamoine’s newest addition to the fire fleet. The new rescue/pumper truck, approved twice by voters, should be delivered sometime in February 2005.
Colwell Diesel of Ellsworth won the bid for the chassis for $65,756.50, and K & T Fire Equipment of Island Falls was the lone bidder for the body at $134,244.00. The two bids combined are 50-cents over the amount raised at the town meeting for the new rig.
The new truck will feature storage space for the various pieces of rescue equipment the fire department hauls to the scenes of fires and car accidents. That equipment has been spread among several trucks and consolidation will greatly ease accident response. That equipment includes the cutting jaws, thermal imaging camera, defibrillator, gas detector, chainsaws, brooms, oil spill kit, lighting and several airpacks.
In addition to housing the rescue equipment the truck can also serve as a front line pumper truck at a fire call. It will greatly increase the department’s flexibility.
The new truck will replace a 1975 American LaFrance pumper which will go up for sale when the 2005 pumper is delivered. Tom York of K & T Fire Equipment was optimistic the truck would sell easily, as it’s still in good functioning condition. Proceeds from the sale of the truck will be plowed back into the town’s fire truck reserve account which contributed $25,000 to the new truck.


Heating Oil Spill Leads To Costly Cleanup

(Lamoine) — A Buttermilk Road home became the site of an expensive cleanup after a woodpile in the cellar fell, and knocked off the outlet form the heating fuel tank. The Lamoine Fire Department responded to the call and found about 100-gallons of fuel on the cellar floor. Firefighters helped scoop up what they could and put it into trash cans. A plumber had repaired the broken valve prior to arrival. The Department of Environmental Protection took over from there, hiring Clean Harbors to clean up the basement. Because of cracks in the floor, the fuel seeped into the dirt under the house and toward the sump pump. Tom Varney of the DEP said the cellar had to be dug up, the house aired out, and the cost was in the tens of thousands of dollars. The DEP maintains an insurance fund for such accidents, and the homeowners were able to use that fund for the cleanup.

Fire Department Gets Grant to Upgrade Boat

(Lamoine) — The Maine Emergency Management Agency approved over $6,000 to upgrade Lamoine’s rescue boat. Captain Carlton Johnson and Lt. Brett Jones will outfit the boat with a new radio & GPS unit as well as a steering console. The grant will also secure new rescue suits, lights and other gear. Lamoine has one of the only such equipped boats in the area with a trained rescue crew.

Illegal Dump Cleaned

(Lamoine) - Furniture, clothing and other trash started to appear on the vacant lot adjacent to the Lamoine Transfer Station during the summer. Resident trash hauler Rusty Boynton was hired to clean up the mess and haul it off to the Ellsworth Transfer Station. Illegal dumping has become more common as communities charge to throw away certain trash items. Anyone seeing such disposal taking place is urged to call the town office or the police.


Auction Nets $6,000

(Lamoine) — The fire department’s annual auction in August was another winner, bringing in approximately $6,000 to the department. The money raised this year will help replenish funds used to help purchase the new fire truck. The department pledged $50,000 toward that purchase.
Volunteer Auctioneer Chas Hare of Stockton Springs once again led the bidding while firefighters gathered the goods sold.

Chowder Dinner October 16th

(Lamoine) — The Lamoine Volunteer Fire Department’s annual clam chowder dinner will be held on Saturday, October 16, 2004 at 5:00 PM at the Lamoine Consolidated School Chefs Albert and David Herrick will once again cook up their most excellent clam chowder. Tickets for the event are still $5.00 for adults and $2.50 for children under 12. Firefighters will sell tickets door to door on Sunday October 10th. Tickets will also be available at the door the evening of the dinner or in advance from the Town Office.
The dinner is one of the highlights of autumn in Lamoine and generally serves about 300 to 400 people.

Summer Quiet for Fire Calls

(Lamoine) — It was a relatively quiet summer in Lamoine for the Volunteer Fire Department. Only five calls, and 40-percent of those were for mutual aid.
County Ambulance called during the late hours of a Friday night for fire personnel to guide them to the right lot at Lamoine State Park for a female with a medical problem In August, Lamoine personnel manned the Ellsworth station as that department responded to a serious automobile accident. The oil spill call (see article above) came in on August 28th.
September brought a mutual aid call to Trenton for a structure fire at a home under construction in that community. Lamoine sent the pumper and tanker and a half dozen personnel, and very little damage was done to the home thanks to a quick fire report by the carpenters on scene. A week later, fire personnel responded to a roll-over accident on Mud Creek Road. The remnants of a hurricane were coming through at the time with a pouring rain. Two people were injured in the mishap.
Just a reminder that all emergency calls, fire, police and ambulance, should now dial 9-1-1. The non-emergency number at the fire station is not manned.

Contract Signing
Selectmen (front row l-r) Perry Fowler, Jo Cooper & Glenn Crawford join (back row, l-r) Tom York (K & T Fire Equipment), Fire Chief Skip Smith and Chief Engineer Mo Oliver at the fire station to sign the contract to complete building the new rescue pumper truck. Delivery is expected in February, 2005

Mopping Up
Firefighters Kermit Theall, Mike Maxwell and Joe Young help clean up fuel oil spilled in a Buttermilk Road basement