The high winds and rain that battered Lincoln County last week left significant damage in its wake, but the fact that nobody in the county was killed or injured may be luck as much as anything else.
According to emergency officials, in the wake of last week’s storm, one or more people stole over 60 traffic cones and emergency barricades erected around Lincoln County.
The cones and barricades are regular safety equipment, which in this case, local fire departments put up to mark emergency areas, road washouts, downed power lines, downed trees, and the like.
“We don’t have enough firefighters for every washout, every downed tree, every downed line,” said the county Emergency Management Agency Director Tim Pellerin. “Whoever these pranksters are or whatever they’re doing, they are going in behind them (firefighters) and they are taking barricades and cones.”
According to Pellerin, the hardest hit towns include Bremen, Waldoboro and Edgecomb. This is not the first time this kind of theft of safety equipment has been reported, Pellerin said. Most recently, approximately 25 cones were taken during the Patriots’ Day storm in 2007, Pellerin said.
“I’ve never seen such a thing in all my life,” he said. “Who would want to do that? You’re jeopardizing the public’s safety. Beyond that, these cones cost $30 apiece and when you take 60 of them, that adds up. Most of these departments are cutting wherever they can, the taxpayers are screaming, and this happens.”
“More than anything, I cannot emphasize this enough, this could be the difference between life and death,” Pellerin said. “Somebody could be driving along at 35 miles an hour, at night, and may not see the washout because somebody took the cones the fire department put out 200 feet ahead; somebody could be driving along and not see that until it is too late.”
Pellerin advises members of the public to keep an eye out for people taking, moving, or damaging safety equipment. “This is serious business. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you see someone taking these, call 9-1-1, it’s a law enforcement matter,” he said.
