“Boom!”

It was one of those riveting moments where you would remember where you were and what you were doing. For me, it was sitting at a conference room table in my office. It’s located above the Liquid Sunshine retail store in downtown Farmington. I had arrived at work about 20 minutes earlier and it was just a bit before 8:30 a.m. the third Monday in September.

The “Boom” was preceded by flickering lights and internet that also briefly went out. (This timing was a testament to the fact that lights and electricity travel faster than sound.)

Soon the word spread that something had happened about a mile and a half away on Route 2, in effect Maine’s east-west highway known locally as the Farmington Falls Road. Though our own power went back on soon enough the blast cut off electricity for much of the morning to Walmart and Hannaford. More immediately affected was a signature annual event: the Franklin County Fair less than half a mile away from the blast, debris from the explosion floating out over the midway, closing the fair for its second day of operations.

Most unsettling of all was the anxious uncertainty as to just what it was; then, as the morning evolved just who it was. The “who” question quickly paralyzed thinking among many because word by mid-morning got out that a senior member of the fire department had been killed and several more were seriously injured.

A prevailing rumor during the day was that the chief himself, Terry Bell was the fatally injured party. Only by late afternoon did word emerge that it was the Chief’s older brother Captain Michael Bell who had given his life as a result of the sudden and massive collapse of the newly rebuilt Life Enrichment Advancing People (LEAP) two-story headquarters.

The critical as well as serious injuries to five of Bell’s comrades at the senior command level of the department as well as the critical injury of the LEAP maintenance supervisor Larry Lord evoked intense consideration throughout the community. It is, after all, in itself typical of towns in Maine: we’re one big extended family

Though Bell is by no means the first Maine firefighter to lose his life in the line of duty, the Farmington tragedy stands apart for the large number of seriously wounded colleagues who were simultaneously hurt. One must go back many decades in the annals of Maine firefighting history to find such a large number of firefighters so seriously affected.

I personally have known both Bell and his entire family since childhood. Bell’s wife and younger sister were classmates of mine. As town meeting moderator I have also often crossed paths with their nephew, Josh Bell, who serves as chair of the Board of Selectmen.

For many years both Mike Bell himself as well as Bell’s dad, the late Jack Bell, also a long-time firefighter, had been the “go to” plumbers for many including this columnist.

I also worked with Captain Michael and Chief Terry Bell for the last 20 years on the nine member town parking committee. Their contributions were significant in helping to shape policies as well as ordinances throughout the community. Their insight was also accompanied by a diplomatic candor and straightforwardness. This included such subjects as which of the town’s streets if any should be one way, which parking lots should be two hour limited  and how far from hydrants should parking be prohibited. Such other questions pertaining to personal, commercial as well as emergency traffic throughout a community were also matters we had to confront.

All these were significant matters in a town where the daily volume in some locations could often exceed 20,000 cars per day. (Farmington may be small in and of itself but it is a service sector hub that includes University of Maine and Maine Health hospital facilities. It’s also a gateway for those coming and going to and through the west central Maine ski area and lake-side recreational areas.)

All the Bells are mild mannered, never raise their voice but when they speak you listen.

There have been many inspirational moments including significant fund raising efforts and a close community spirit that has broken down barriers.

County Commissioner Charles Webster, the former head of the GOP State Committee and a long-time conservative activist put it this way in speaking to this columnist a few days ago.

“Because I have lived my life in politics sometimes people who do not always agree with you will avoid you. So what happened is that people I had not talked to in years — people I have known for a long time but because of politics we really had not talked — went out of the way to reach out to me and we talked about our families and things we had in common. This was nice and how it used to be and how it should be now.”

The phenomenon of close collegiality has spread in other ways as well. As columnist Bill Nemitz wrote recently, Farmington has been “until further notice, the largest fire department in Maine.” That is due to the response from firefighter volunteers from throughout the state. They come from Bar Harbor to Lewiston, from Portland to Wales, Yarmouth to Old Town, Rangeley to Waterville. They are filling the void left at a small department which has for now at any rate been deprived of nearly its entire upper management and a quarter of its overall members. Staffing the department in round the clock rotations — eight of them plus a chief officer for each of the 12 hour shifts – is expected to continue for at least several days now.

Thus whether it is Farmington, west central Maine or the entire region of our country the “Boom” heard by so many is one that has brought not just the locality but also the entire state together.

None of this will come close to redressing the loss not only to those injured but for the 30 persons who were displaced from mobile homes destroyed nearby, but it does serve as a reminder that the aftermath of such an odyssey can bring out a most noble response.

Paul Mills is a Farmington attorney well known for his analyses and historical understanding of public affairs in Maine; he can be reached by e-mail pmills@myfairpoint.net

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