ANDOVER – A mishap with a fire engine April 19 at a Rumford woods fire set the stage for a special town meeting a month later.
At the 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, meeting in the town hall, selectmen are seeking voter authorization to spend $35,000 of insurance money received for the totaled 1974 International engine to purchase another fire truck.
The truck sustained a ruptured water tank and other damage on April 19 when it rolled backwards 200 feet down Eaton Hill Road, caromed off a Dixfield firefighter’s pickup truck, and slammed into a drainage ditch bank.
Fire Chief Ken Dixon, 64, responding to a mutual aid call from Rumford Fire Department, had rushed the truck to the scene and parked it near the crest of a hill at the staging area.
According to Rumford police, Dixon set the emergency brake, but failed to put chock blocks behind the wheels as an added safety measure. The emergency brake let go and the lime-yellow engine, loaded with 1,000 gallons of water, headed down the road to ruin.
Other warrant items include providing health insurance for the town secretary and treasurer and moving $1,000 out of surplus and into a special recreation account.
The first item was inadvertently left off the March 15 regular town meeting warrant, while the other item involves a check that was mistakenly placed in surplus.
tkarkos@sunjournal.com
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