A 58-year-old Yarmouth man, a painter with a Portland contractor, died in a workplace accident at a Wiscasset business on Friday, Nov. 13.
James Thompson, an employee of Portland-based Theodore Logan & Son Inc., had been painting the interior of the garage area at Atlantic Motorcar Center since Monday, Nov. 9, according to a press release from the Wiscasset Police Department. On Friday, he was on a scissor lift about 12 feet off the floor in front of an automatic garage door when the door “suddenly” started to open.
“Before workers could stop the door, it hit the cage area of the scissor lift, causing it to tip over on its side,” the police department said in the press release.
Atlantic Motorcar Center employees “ran to Thompson’s aid and began lifesaving techniques” while waiting for emergency medical services, according to the press release, but Thompson died from his injuries at the scene.
The Wiscasset Ambulance Service and Wiscasset Police Department responded to the business at 9:30 a.m. The Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration also responded.
Theodore Logan & Son Inc. is a fourth-generation family-owned painting contractor. Established in 1880, it specializes in historic preservation and painting of hospitals and public buildings, according to its website.
Atlantic Motorcar Center owner Bruce J. Howes, in a message to The Lincoln County News, said he works a second job as an advanced emergency medical technician and started CPR seconds after hearing the crash from his office. A paramedic who works at Atlantic Motorcar arrived soon after and assisted him until an ambulance crew took over.
Thompson “had been working in our building for about two weeks, was well liked, and my crew got to know him well,” Howes said in the message. “He did a remarkable job and they enjoyed working with him.”
The staff at Atlantic Motorcar “took it especially hard,” Howes said of the Thompson’s death, “but all expressed a desire to learn or relearn CPR and basic first aid.” He has arranged with Wiscasset Ambulance to have the staff trained and certified for CPR, automated external defibrillator use, and hemorrhage control in early December.
A local pastor was going to lead a private prayer service at the business Monday, Nov. 16.
