Wiscasset’s Engine 7, Edgecomb’s Engine 3 and Dresden’s Engine 6 were lined up on Rte. 144 on Westport Island April 29, their firefighters ready to spray water onto the spanking new fire truck recently delivered to the Westport Island Volunteer Fire Department.
The truck – Engine #2 – rounded the corner, the water washed over the truck as it drove by, and the ceremony had begun.
One of the Edgecomb firefighters likened the spraying to a ritual christening of sorts.
Chaplain Val Lovelace blessed the truck. She said the “community came together to purchase this truck and has given it to us for safe keeping. … We ask for [the firefighters’] protection as they return safely home.”
It had been 49 years since the Westport Island Fire Department had a brand new truck. All of the others had been pieced together using different parts.
At the open house after the ceremony, Fire Chief Robert Mooney said that this $225,000 truck was necessary because it sprays compressed air foam, which is the most effective way to fight a fire.
There are 16 people on the Westport Island Fire Department, Chief Mooney said, and only three or four of them are on Westport Island during the day. Like many small towns in Maine, Westport Island hopes to attract more members to its fire department. Other than the fire department and EMS members, about 10 townspeople were in attendance.
When asked what they liked about the truck, Chief Mooney said, “It runs. It doesn’t leak. There is room for EMS. All the controls are right there at our fingertips. It puts a fire out like yesterday.”
