100 years ago, 1912
A lively still alarm fire was that which a hose truck of the Auburn Fire Department responded to at 4.10 Wednesday morning. It was at the home of Fred Haskell on Drummond Court. Houses in this locality are exposed to considerable danger from sparks from passing locomotives on the M.C.R.R. track and the fire, in this instance, had caught on the roof in this way. It took some time to extinguish the blaze but little damage was done.

50 years ago, 1962
A traffic sign-making machine purchased for the Lewiston Police Department is paying off big dividends for the city. Lt. Herve J. Gendreau, head of the LPD’s Traffic Bureau, reported that the machine, a baking-oven type, has more than paid for itself in the number of signs made by the department. In a demonstration, several new signs were processed from old ones that have been in use for many years. By using the old signs, considerable money is being saved in reducing the number of blanks that must be purchased. In many cases, a new facing can be put on right over the old surface of a traffic sign. In cases where the finish has been damaged, the department applies the new facing, similar to a decal, to the back of the sign and a coat of paint covers up the message on the opposite side.

25 years ago, 1987
The fire that leveled the historic Worumbo Mill in Lisbon Falls Thursday began when molten metal from a pipe being cut by a construction worker fell into a pile of combustible material on the second floor of the building, fire investigators announced Friday. Lisbon firefighters were still hosing down the smoldering ruins of the 123-year-old mill a day after the blaze. An investigator said, “The cause of the fire is a welder’s cutting torch in the section of the mill known as Number 4, near the corner of Number 1.”

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