|
June 27,2007
A group of severe thunderstorms kept Station 6 busy. They responded to 2 mutual aid working fires in Hermon (engine, tanker and rescue 6) within 4 hours. Below is part of an article from the Bangor Daily News.
Thunderstorms cool the heat, but ignite several fires
By BDN Staff
Thursday, June 28, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
While most people wished for a summer shower to extinguish Wednesday’s heat and humidity, the late afternoon thunderstorms ignited several house and grass fires in parts of the state.
A Hermon home and barn were destroyed after lightning struck the buildings at 7 Phillips Lane, just off Annis Road, around 4 p.m. The barn and the ell, attaching the barn to the home, were burned to the ground, said Lt. Kelli Leighton of the Hermon Fire Department. The back part of the home was destroyed and the front would probably be a total loss, she said.
Six fire departments from neighboring communities and the Maine Air National Guard base in Bangor assisted the Hermon department in fighting the blaze, she said. Despite the heat, no firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, Leighton said, but they had to guard against heat exhaustion.
"It’s so hot that we need a long time to recover," she said. The firefighters drank a lot of water and took turns battling the fire.
Lightning shot through the window of a Brewer home at around 5:45 p.m., setting a bed on fire in a family playroom, said Lt. Robbie Wildes of the Brewer Fire Department.
The lightning hit the 2½-story home at 34 Getchell St., and while Veronica Spaight was in the home at the time, with her two daughters, a 6-year-old and 6-month-old, nobody was hurt. Edward Spaight said he was on his way home from work when he noticed the smoke and called his wife.
"I said, ‘It looks like there is a fire in the area,’ and she said, ‘Yeah, it’s our house,’" Spaight, 37, said. "I ran right home."
Damage to the first floor was considerable, while the second floor had mainly smoke and water damage, Wildes said.
Several other structure and grass fires were reported late Wednesday afternoon in Penobscot County.
Severe thunderstorm warnings and watches for every county in the state except Aroostook alerted residents to the potential for heavy rains, large hail, damaging winds and frequent lightning between the hours of about 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday.
|
